Tsunami watch cancelled

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 has struck about 33 miles from Padang in West Sumatra, according to news reports.
It comes in the wake of an 8.0 magnitude quake and tsunami in the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific yesterday.

It makes you wonder how earthquake resistant our high-rise buildings are.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has cancelled its tsunami watch.

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1131Z 30 SEP 2009

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.

… THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED …

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 1016Z 30 SEP 2009
COORDINATES – 0.9 SOUTH 99.9 EAST
LOCATION – SOUTHERN SUMATRA INDONESIA
MAGNITUDE – 7.6

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
PADANG ID 0.9S 100.4E 1046Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 20MIN

LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE THAT A SIGNIFICANT TSUNAMI WAS NOT
GENERATED. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH ISSUED BY THIS CENTER
IS NOW CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ISSUE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FOR THIS EVENT. IN THE CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION…THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.