The dreaded tsunami in New Caledonia after a violent earthquake that occurred this Friday, May 19, ultimately did not form. The tidal wave alert has been lifted on the island.
Wind of panic in New Caledonia. The Pacific island was shaken by a violent earthquake of magnitude 7.7 on the Richter scale, this Friday, May 19, at 1:57 p.m. local time (4:57 a.m. Paris time). The epicenter of the earthquake detected by the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) was 333.8 kilometers from the coast and 37 km deep. A location that raised fears of the “possible” formation of a tidal wave within a radius of 1000 kilometers around the epicenter at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. But the low tide was, a priori, beneficial and limited the risk of seeing dangerous waves crashing on the sides. A few hours after the first tremor, the tsunami alert was lifted by the institute.
The first earthquake was the largest with a magnitude of 7.7 in New Caledonia. Within an hour four more tremors were felt on the Pacific island with magnitudes ranging from 5.1 to 5.9.
Waves of 50 cm observed
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center feared waves that could measure several tens of centimeters and up to a meter or more, notes France info. Finally the biggest waves observed hit Maré and the Isle of Pines and measured 40 and 50 centimeters, far from the worst-case scenario, reports the 1st New Caledonia. The low tide level at the time of the earthquake could explain the lack of tsunami formation off the island according to observations by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
No casualties and no damage
Despite the earthquake, the four aftershocks and the risk of facing a tsunami, the authorities of New Caledonia have not counted any casualties and the damage is also very low on the spot, reports France info. The elected officials of the island were delighted to see the island escape the worst and congratulated the behavior of the inhabitants of the coast who followed the safety instructions by quickly taking shelter on the heights of the island after the triggering of the tsunami warning. The false alert served as a “life-size exercise” and acts as a “booster shot” according to a local elected official, the last tsunami alert dating back to March 2021.