Tonga volcano: effects in Hawaii

[TomK]

Thanks, Carey. I wasn't aware of damage in Hawaii from the tsunami so appreciate the update. I know some harbors in California experienced damage but fortunately, the tsunami wasn't devastating in most places around the Pacific.

[Obie]

I was in Kailoa Kona on Sunday and Monday and saw some of the damage.

[Carey]

Tom, it was sheer luck that there were no injuries... had this happened during business hours it would have been much worse, with the lack of warning -someone should REALLY figure out what is going on there... no warning until AFTER the first waves hit, though state officials had hours to give some warning, or at the very least an advisory.... It could have also saved some of the damages businesses did have...
I guess everyone is now in total disaster fatigue... but this is something we should all work to figure out before something serious happens..
"Although everyone agreed it could have been worse, there was universal dismay about the warning system.
The first wave was reported to have reached West Hawaii around 2 a.m., however, the Hawaii County Civil Defense tsunami advisory was sent out at 2:03 a.m. That came after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center’s advisory issued at 12:40 a.m.
Sirens did not sound in West Hawaii, nor was there a watch or warning issue to advise residents of potential danger along the shoreline. A tsunami advisory is one level below a warning — and one step above a watch. It means dangerous waves of 1 to 3 feet and strong currents are expected."
https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2022/01/...st-hawaii/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

the lack of warning -someone should REALLY figure out what is going on there... no warning until AFTER the first waves hit, though state officials had hours to give some warning

I read an interview with someone at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center who said their models are based on earthquakes, not a major volcanic eruption.  They didn’t have a basis of comparison or past experience to work with so couldn’t calculate potential impact or effects.  I’ll see if I can find a link, but it’s late so may have to wait until tomorrow.

———————-
Found it:

“The volcano caused tsunami is not the normal type of tsunami that we analyze at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center,” said Chip McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

He said the tsunami they normally analyze are from large earthquakes — and they have a wealth of tools to do that — but in this case, a tsunami was triggered by an underwater volcanic eruption.

“We had no idea because we did not have information to constrain the source,” McCreery said. “We didn’t know how big the explosion was, what kind of mass of material went on into the sea.”

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/01/16...-eruption/

[Carey]

& for those of us who feel safe in the fact we live high & dry above the tsunami zone... When we first moved here there were CD workshops. & the fact that we NEEDED, not only a plan for our home, but also WHENEVER we were at work to traveled about the island....
We realized how many times we were shopping, swimming or eating along bayfront, or hiking along the shoreline trails... did we have a plan? (honestly we had not even thought of tsunami dangers outside of "our house is high enough, no worries!")
At that time the fact that a tsunami could be minutes away if a geologic occurance happened nearshore was the main thing.... based on our current warning system... even something hours away can sneak up on us & we must realize that we cannot count on the county, or state, to be of any assistance... & to plan on that...
ETA: HOTPE, PTWC had the advisory issued at 12:40 am.... Hawai`i County CD waited until 2:03, after the first wave, to issue the advisory.... so they HAD the info, just decided to wait until the wave hit... "The first wave was reported to have reached West Hawaii around 2 a.m., however, the Hawaii County Civil Defense tsunami advisory was sent out at 2:03 a.m. That came after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center’s advisory issued at 12:40 a.m"

[TomK]

the lack of warning -someone should REALLY figure out what is going on there... no warning until AFTER the first waves hit, though state officials had hours to give some warning

I read an interview with someone at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center who said their models are based on earthquakes, not a major volcanic eruption.  They didn’t have a basis of comparison or past experience to work with so couldn’t calculate potential impact or effects.  I’ll see if I can find a link, but it’s late so may have to wait until tomorrow.

———————-
Found it:

“The volcano caused tsunami is not the normal type of tsunami that we analyze at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center,” said Chip McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

He said the tsunami they normally analyze are from large earthquakes — and they have a wealth of tools to do that — but in this case, a tsunami was triggered by an underwater volcanic eruption.

“We had no idea because we did not have information to constrain the source,” McCreery said. “We didn’t know how big the explosion was, what kind of mass of material went on into the sea.”

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/01/16...-eruption/

The problem with that is that there are buoys in the ocean that detect tsunamis - no matter what caused them. I don't think we're being told everything and it was known shortly after the eruption that there was a tsunami. I need to learn more but I call bullsh*t from McCreery.

[Carey]

As I added above, no need to look, PTWC did issue the advisory at 12:40am, Hawai`i County waited until after the first wave hit to issue their advisory at 2:03am...valuable time lost by our county... & most likely state...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

there are buoys in the ocean that detect tsunamis

There are, but most are positioned for quakes that occur in South America, Japan, or Alaska.  There’s nothing in the system between Tonga & here.  Map of DART warning bouys:
https://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Dart/


nor was there a watch or warning issue to advise residents of potential danger along the shoreline.

I remember some years ago when a tsunami evacuation was ordered for Honolulu, in the afternoon on a workday.  No tsunami occurred and people were up in arms about the inconvenience, and getting stuck in traffic jams preventing an orderly evacuation.  The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was raked through the coals for that call, and they’ve been more cautious about what type of warning they’ve issued ever since, especially because people are less likely to pay attention to their forecasts if they're wrong, again.  Can you imagine the outcry on the news and social media if they called for an evacuation in the middle of the night, not based on their normal models, or buoy readings and almost nothing happened?

[Puna Grace]

Thank you for putting that theory to rest.  It is reassuring to know there is no bouy conspiracy or intentional misinformation coming from our public warning officials.

[ChunksterK]

My take on this one is that perhaps the PTWC guys might want to look at acquiring more data gathering equipment in the part of the ocean between us and the Tonga neighborhood. Volcanic blowouts larger than the current episode have been known to happen in that part of the world. We were lucky no one was killed or injured in Hawaii.