Hawaii tsunami center proposes changing guidelines for issuing tsunami warnings

Tuesday, January 2nd 2007, 9:42 pm

By: News On 6

HILO, Hawaii (AP) _ Scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center want to loosen the requirements for issuing tsunami warnings when earthquakes hit near the Hawaiian Islands.

The proposal calls for issuing a local tsunami alert for temblors as small as magnitude 6.7, said Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the center, located in Ewa Beach. Currently, the warning criteria call for tsunami alerts for earthquakes that are magnitude 6.9 or greater.

As a result, there could be more tsunami warnings and evacuations of coastal areas following earthquakes, Sardina said.

``On one hand, you don't want to scare the public unnecessarily, but on the other hand, you don't want to miss something that could be significant,'' Sardina said Tuesday. ``You want to go with the most conservative approach.''

The change to issuing warnings for 6.7-magnitude earthquakes has been considered for several months, but magnitude 6.7 and 6.5 earthquakes that struck Hawaii in October gave more urgency to those discussions, Sardina said. The change still is being discussed between the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and Civil Defense officials.