I f Hawaii, portions of southern California, French Polynesia, or portions of central Chile are in your travel plans over the next few days, you may want to consider delaying your travel — or, at least, keep yourself updated as to the latest information pertaining to a possible tsunami as the result of a major earthquake which occurred off the cost of Chile earlier today, according to this report from the National Tsunami Warning Center of the National Weather Service, which is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of central Chile 29 miles west of Illapel and 142 miles north-northwest of Santiago at 7:56 in the evening local time on Wednesday, September 16, 2015; and at least five major aftershocks have also already been reported. As a result, tsunami advisories have been issued for the state of Hawaii and parts of southern California.
Here is a map of the timeline of when and where the possible tsunami is expected to cause impact, according to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles:
Modeled tsunami travel times. The wave from the Chile earthquake will arrive in ~13 hours, or ~5 AM Thursday. pic.twitter.com/gmzgVWy56i
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) September 17, 2015
The earthquake reached a magnitude of as much as 6 on the Richter scale in parts of Santiago, where buildings have swayed and the international airport was temporarily evacuated but has since been reopened. Three people have been reported dead as a result of the earthquake. Communications have been inadequate; and infrastructure damage has been reported — including as many as 30,000 people without electrical power — in Coquimbo.
It is entirely possible that the tsunami advisories may be just that — advisories — with no actual tsunami. Regardless, you may want to consider contacting your airline or transportation provider for the latest information pertaining to your travels to any of the aforementioned affected areas as a precaution…
…and please: travel safely.
Source of map: United States Geological Survey.
