Seismologists issue tsunami alert along eastern board

MANILA, Philippines - Seismologists issued a tsunami warning yesterday along the country’s eastern seaboard after a tsunami triggered by an earthquake killed five persons in the Solomon Islands, but no evacuation was undertaken.

Executive director Eduardo del Rosario of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the earthquake in the Solomon Islands was too far to cause a tsunami in the Philippines.

“There was no need for an evacuation,” he said.

The  Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs)  raised the tsunami alert over 19 areas along the east coast following the magnitude-8.0 earthquake in the Solomon Islands yesterday morning.

The NDRRMC went on standby alert until the tsunami warning was lifted at 12:15 p.m.

Tsunami Alert Level 1 was issued at 9:29 a.m. in areas facing the Pacific Ocean, including the Batanes group of islands, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Quezon, Aurora, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur.

Under Tsunami Alert Level 1, residents are advised to be on standby for possible evacuation.

Phivolcs said the quake occurred near Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands at 9:12 a.m.

The tremor had a depth of 33 kilometers.

Phivolcs said an earthquake of this magnitude has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii reported a 0.91-meter tsunami recorded by the tide gauge in Santa Cruz Islands. In Vanuatu, closer to the Philippines, the tsunami tapered off to a height of 0.26 meters.

A tsunami is a series of sea waves commonly generated by undersea earthquakes with heights greater than five meters.