No Tsunami Threat to Hawaiʻi After Chile Quake

Chile earthquake, March 16, 2014, image courtesy Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

By Wendy Osher

There is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi after a 7.0 preliminary magnitude (later downgraded to a 6.7) earthquake reported at 11:17 a.m. HST on Sunday, March 16, 2014, off the coast of northern Chile, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The agency issued a statement saying that based on all available data, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi.

Accrding to the US Geological Survey, the quake occurred at a depth of 12.4 miles and was centered: 37 miles WNW of Iquique, Chile; 102 miles SSW of Arica, Chile; 134 miles S of Tacna, Peru; 152 miles N of Tocopilla, Chile; and 286 miles SW of La Paz, Bolivia.

Chile earthquake shake map, March 16, 2014, courtesy US Geological Survey.