Philippines hit with 7.6 earthquake; East of Sulagan; Tsunami Warning Issued

I received 11 different text messages in the middle of the night from readers of mine in the Philippines telling me about this awful 7.6 earthquake. It was felt in Bohol, Leyla Island, Mindanao Island. Event Time 2012-08-31 12:47:34 UTC 2012-08-31 20:47:34 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2012-08-31 05:47:34 UTC-07:00 system time Nearby Cities 96km (60mi) E of Sulangan, Philippines 109km (68mi) ESE of Guiuan, Philippines 162km (101mi) ESE of Borongan, Philippines 176km (109mi) NE of Surigao, Philippines 747km (464mi) ESE of Manila, Philippines

Earthquake Details

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	7.6
Date-Time	Friday, August 31, 2012 at 12:47:34 UTC Friday, August 31, 2012 at 08:47:34 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	10.838°N, 126.704°E
Depth	34.9 km (21.7 miles)
Region	PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
Distances	94 km (58 miles) E of Sulangan, Philippines 106 km (65 miles) ESE of Guiuan, Philippines 161 km (100 miles) ESE of Borongan, Philippines 174 km (108 miles) NE of Surigao, Philippines
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 13.3 km (8.3 miles); depth +/- 2.8 km (1.7 miles)
Parameters	NST=688, Nph=688, Dmin=435.3 km, Rmss=0.98 sec, Gp= 11°, M-type=(unknown type), Version=A
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc000cc5m

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 004 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED AT 1454Z 31 AUG 2012 THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA... WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. ADDITIONAL SEA LEVEL READINGS INCLUDED. WARNING IS CANCELLED. ... TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ... THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND/OR WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR INDONESIA / PHILIPPINES / BELAU 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 - 1248Z 31 AUG 2012 COORDINATES - 10.9 NORTH 127.1 EAST DEPTH - 33 KM LOCATION - PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION MAGNITUDE - 7.6 MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER ------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- ----- MALAKAL KOROR PW 7.3N 134.5E 1447Z 0.01M / 0.0FT 10MIN DART 52404 20.9N 132.3E 1418Z 0.01M / 0.0FT 10MIN DAVAO PH 7.1N 125.6E 1350Z 0.03M / 0.1FT 32MIN DART 52405 12.9N 132.3E 1333Z 0.03M / 0.1FT 10MIN LEGASPI PH 13.1N 123.8E 1343Z 0.03M / 0.1FT 14MIN 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. NOTE - DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS. EVALUATION SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR THOSE 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. NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES. THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELLED FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY THIS CENTER. THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION... THE MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY. THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.