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Yahoo news reported that the U.S. Geological Survey has said that a powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific between Samoa and American Samoa. A tsunami alert has been issued for the region.

According to the website, the temor hit at 6:48 a.m. Tuesday (1748 GMT) midway between the two island groups.

In the Samoan capital of Apia, families fled their homes amid severe shaking that lasted for up to three minutes. Local media reported people were fleeing to higher ground.

The report also went on to state that the USGS said the quake struck 20 miles (35 kilometers) below the ocean floor and was 120 miles (190 kilometers) from American Samoa and 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a general alert for the South Pacific region, from American Samoa to New Zealand.

In another report by PTI news, a tsunami alert was issued today for the Pacific shores of Japan after a massive 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck thousands of kilometres away off the islands of Samoa and American Samoa.

Japan's meteorological agency warned that tsunami waves of up to 50 centimetres would reach the archipelago's Pacific shores.

The first waves were expected to hit the Ogasawara island chain 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo at around 11:00 am (0730 IST), followed by Japan's main island about an hour later, it said.

"We issued a tsunami alert for the nation's entire coastline facing the Pacific. We urge people not to engage in activity in or near the sea as it is very dangerous," said Yasuo Sekita, who heads the agency's quake division.

"We urge people to be on full alert as fishing vessels have been carried away or capsized before," he told a nationally televised news conference.

I only knew about this because a relative called me from overseas to advise me to stay away from coastal areas and to ensure that I was not anywhere near Gurney Drive or Tanjung Bungah.

Those of you reading this, please alert your loved ones.

My internet connection is terribly slow so I cannot access many websites to see if this has been reported.

Dear reader, please take care. Life is short...God bless you and yours.

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Latest update from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre


.. THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED ...

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 - 1016Z 30 SEP 2009
COORDINATES - 0.9 SOUTH 99.9 EAST
LOCATION - SOUTHERN SUMATRA INDONESIA
MAGNITUDE - 7.6

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
PADANG ID 0.9S 100.4E 1046Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 20MIN

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.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE THAT A SIGNIFICANT TSUNAMI WAS NOT
GENERATED. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH ISSUED BY THIS CENTER
IS NOW CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ISSUE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FOR THIS EVENT. IN THE CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION...THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.