Tsunami Confirmed After Major Earthquake Reported Southwest of Fiji

10 Feb 2021, 4:45 pm

After seeing a 7.7 magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning, another large earthquake has been reported near the Loyalty Islands region around 1:24PM PST. The most recent earthquake was an aftershock that had a magnitude of 6.7. Thankfully no tsunami threat is associated with the most recent earthquake for Australia or the Western United States Coastline.

Tsunami Info Stmt: M6.7 Loyalty Islands Region 1324PST Feb 10: Tsunami NOT expected; CA,OR,WA,BC,and AK

#NTWC

— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) February 10, 2021

A major earthquake occurred Wednesday morning in the Pacific Ocean near the South New Hebrides Trench, about 250 miles east of New Caledonia.

The magnitude has been updated to 7.7, after initially being reported around 7.9 before being downgraded to 7.5.

A tsunami was confirmed on Twitter by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau warned of marine threats to Lord Howe Island which is a few hundred miles east of Australia’s mainland. The warning for Lord Howe Island has now been lifted.

TSUNAMI CONFIRMED. Observation – Norfolk Is at 2:15am AEDT. MARINE THREAT warning for LORD HOWE ISLAND. Issued by JATWC 3:01 AM AEDT Thu 11 Feb 2021. Tsunami affecting marine area commencing after 2:45 am AEDT Thu, persisting for several hours Warnings at: https://t.co/cuhd1HTN87 pic.twitter.com/KtL1fMMoyh

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) February 10, 2021

An earthquake watch was issued for American Samoa. It has since been removed with no tsunami expected.

The Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu are expecting tsunami waves between 0.3 and 1 meters in height.

We have issued a NATIONAL ADVISORY: TSUNAMI ACTIVITY following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake near SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS. We expect New Zealand coastal areas to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore

— National Emergency Management Agency (@NZcivildefence) February 10, 2021

New Zealand is also expecting impacts from the waves generated by the quake. The National Emergency Management Agency issued an alert for strong and unusual currents and surges of water.

Moderate shaking has been reported on the Isle of Pines, part of the archipelago of New Caledonia.

According to the USGS incident page, little to no damage is expected from the shaking itself.

This article will be updated as additional information becomes available.

About the author

Rob Bradley

Rob grew up in South Florida, where daily afternoon storms and hurricanes piqued his interest in meteorology early on. That interest was fostered by his teachers and his father, who one time brought him onto the roof of their home to watch a funnel cloud move through the Everglades several miles away. ... Load MoreYears of filmmaking and tv production in high school gradually pushed him toward broadcast meteorology at Florida State University, where he joined and eventually led the student run daily weather show. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Meteorology, he began his career at KESQ in Palm Springs, California before heading to KFSN in Fresno and WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina. He has covered a diverse array of extreme weather events, including haboobs and flash flooding in the desert, extreme snow in the Sierra, hurricanes, and Appalachian ice storms. He also enjoys telling stories and reporting about weather issues. Connect with Rob on Twitter