Tsunami Advisory:

The third highest level of tsunami alert. Advisories are issued by the TWCs to coastal populations within areas not currently in either warning or watch status when a tsunami warning has been issued for another region of the same ocean. An Advisory indicates that an area is either outside the current warning and watch regions, or that the tsunami poses no danger to that area. The Center issuing the Advisory will continue to monitor the event, issuing updates at least hourly. As conditions warrant, the Advisory will either be continued, upgraded to a watch or warning, or ended. For an example of the NWS format tsunami advisory CLICK HERE.

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 1009 AM HST THU MAR 19 2009 TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII SUBJECT - FINAL TSUNAMI ADVISORY THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ENDED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 1009 AM HST. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 0818 AM HST 19 MAR 2009 COORDINATES - 23.0 SOUTH 174.8 WEST LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS REGION MAGNITUDE - 7.7 MOMENT MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER ------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- ----- NIUE 19.1S 169.9W 1911Z 0.04M / 0.1FT 06MIN 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 THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS CANCELLED THE REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING IT ISSUED FOR ANOTHER PART OF THE PACIFIC. BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII AND THE ADVISORY FOR HAWAII IS ALSO CANCELLED. HOWEVER... SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS MIGHT BEGIN IS 0236 PM HST THU 19 MAR 2009 THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

Police spokesman Niua Kama told the agency residents did not appear to take the warning seriously.

"People are out on the roads, laughing at the warning," he said.

They were not moving back from the coast despite tsunami warnings, the spokesman added.