000 WEPA40 PHEB 270616 TSUPAC TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 004 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED AT 0616Z 27 AUG 2012 THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA... WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. A SMALL TSUNAMI HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT ACAJUTLA. ... A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT ... A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / EL SALVADOR / HONDURAS / GUATEMALA / PANAMA / MEXICO FOR ALL OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS BULLETIN... IT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME. 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 - 0437Z 27 AUG 2012 COORDINATES - 12.7 NORTH 88.5 WEST DEPTH - 54 KM LOCATION - OFF COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA MAGNITUDE - 7.3 MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER ------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- ----- ACAJUTLA SV 13.6N 89.8W 0540Z 0.10M / 0.3FT 08MIN 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 CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTLINES OF THE REGION NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE REGION AND REPORT IF ANY ADDITIONAL TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY. THE WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION. FOR AFFECTED AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR. LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME -------------------------------- ------------ ------------ COSTA RICA CABO_SAN_ELENA 10.9N 274.0E 0526Z 27 AUG PUERTO_QUEPOS 9.4N 275.8E 0553Z 27 AUG CABO_MATAPALO 8.4N 276.7E 0555Z 27 AUG NICARAGUA CORINTO 12.5N 272.8E 0532Z 27 AUG PUERTO_SANDINO 12.2N 273.2E 0539Z 27 AUG SAN_JUAN_DL_SUR 11.2N 274.1E 0551Z 27 AUG EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 13.6N 270.2E 0543Z 27 AUG HONDURAS AMAPALA 13.2N 272.4E 0556Z 27 AUG GUATEMALA SIPICATE 13.9N 268.8E 0559Z 27 AUG PANAMA PUNTA_BURICA 8.0N 277.1E 0605Z 27 AUG PUNTA_MALA 7.5N 280.0E 0652Z 27 AUG BALBOA_HTS. 9.0N 280.4E 0912Z 27 AUG MEXICO PUERTO_MADERO 14.8N 267.5E 0606Z 27 AUG BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT. THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.