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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS |
Friday 11 March 2011 |
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Costa
Rica On
Alert
For
Tsunami
To Hit
Pacific
Coast at
4pm
Costa
Rica's
Comisión
Nacional
de
Emergencias
(CNE)
has
declared
a
"green"
alert to
the risk
of the
tsunami
that is
expected
to hit
the
Guanacaste
and the
rest of
the
Pacific
coast
around
4pm
today.
The
green
alert is
preventive,
in that
activates
the
first
line of
communication
between
authorities
and the
public,
that
asking
all
Pacific
coastal
residents
to stay
on
alert.
Vanessa
Rosales,
president
of the
CNE,
said "no
evacuation
warning
has been
issued
at this
time,
but
residents
should
be alert
to the
possible
dangers".
The
tsunami
is a
result
of the
8.9 on
the
Richter
scale
earthquake
in
Japan,
which
has been
followed
by a
series
of
aftershocks
registering
over 7
on the
Richter
scale
and a 10
metre
high
wave,
leaving
behind
almost a
100 dead
and
devastation.
In Costa
Rica,
oceanographers
are
expecting
the wave
to hit
around
16:00
hours
local
time
(4pm).
Olman
Lizano
of the
CNE
explained
it is
not
matter
if or
when,
rather
how hard
the wave
will
hit.
The CNE
says it
expects
the wave
to hit
Santa
Elena
(La
Cruz,
Guanacaste)
at
4:15pm,
Quepos
(Aguirre,
Puntarenas,
Central
Pacífic)
at
4:41pm
and
Matapalo
(Osa and
South
Pacific)
at
4:43pm.
Other
Central
American
countries,
Honduras,
Guatemala,
El
Salvador
and
Nicaragua
(save
Belize
that has
no
Pacific
coast)
have all
issued
similar
alerts.
The
threat
of a
tsunami
prompted
the U.S.
National
Weather
Service
to issue
a
warning
for at
least 50
countries
and
territories.
The list
includes
Japan,
Russia,
the
Philippines,
Indonesia,
Papua
New
Guinea,
Australia,
Fiji,
Mexico,
New
Zealand,
Guatemala,
El
Salvador,
Costa
Rica,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Honduras,
Chile,
Ecuador,
Colombia,
Peru and
the
United
States.
Numerous
Pacific
islands,
including
some
U.S.
territories,
are also
on the
list.
The
quake,
which
struck
near the
coast of
Honshu,
Japan on
Friday
afternoon,
unleashed
a wall
of water
that
rushed
in
toward
land,
leveling
houses
and
bashing
cars in
its
path.
Some
officials
feared
that the
fast-moving
waves
from a
tsunami
could be
so high
that
they
wash
over
entire
islands
in the
Pacific,
a
spokesman
for the
International
Federation
of Red
Cross
and Red
Crescent
Societies
said
Friday.
There
was some
good
news on
the
island
of Guam,
where
the
tsunami
warning
was
lifted.
Police
reported
no
damage
or
injuries.
Indonesia
also
lifted
its
warning.
"Experts
are
saying
that it
could be
anywhere
from 4
to 10
meters.
That's
higher
than
some of
the
Pacific
islands
are
above
sea
level.
We just
have to
do the
calculations
to see
that
this is
a real
threat,"
federation
spokesman
Paul
Conneally
said.
The
earthquake,
initially
reported
as a 7.8
earthquake,
was
upgraded
to an
8.9
quake.
"When
you jump
a
magnitude
from 7
to 8,
it's not
10 times
stronger,
it's
1000
times
stronger,"
said CNN
International
meteorologist
Ivan
Cabrera.
"With an
...
earthquake
that
shallow,
that
close to
shore,
there
will be
more
than one
tsunami."
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