WOPZ40 EJRC 151510 EARTHQUAKE ALERT MESSAGE NUMBER 001 THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC ALERT FROM THE GLOBAL DISASTER ALERTS AND COORDINATION SYSTEM (WWW.GDACS.ORG). THE DISSEMINATION THROUGH GTS OF THIS PRODUCT IS INTENDED AS GUIDANCE IN SUPPORT OF UN ACTIVITIES: IT IS A PILOT PROJECT BETWEEN WMO AND JRC TO TEST COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION CHANNELS OF VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS. ***************************************** * WHITE EARTHQUAKE ALERT IN TONGA * ***************************************** SUMMARY ON 15 MAR 2016 14:41:39 UTC (ABOUT 15 MAR 2016 02:59:26 LOCAL TIME) AN EARTHQUAKE OF MAGNITUDE 4.8 OCCURRED IN THE UNPOPULATED REGION OF TONGA IN TONGA. NUKU'ALOFA THE NEAREST POPULATED PLACES ARE: NUKU'ALOFA (132.6 KM). NO CLOSEST CIVILIAN AIRPORT FOUND. EARTHQUAKE EVENT CHARACTERISTICS - SOURCE: NEIC - MAGNITUDE: 4.8 M - DEPTH: 237.3 KM - LOCATION (LAT/LONG): -19.9761 | -175.5511 - COUNTRY: TONGA - PROVINCE: TONGA() - REGION: TONGA ISLANDS - UTC/GMT (GREENWICH TIME): 15 MAR 2016 14:41:39 UTC - ESTIMATED LOCAL SOLAR TIME: 15 MAR 2016 02:59:26 ============================================================================================================ POTENTIALLY AFFECTED CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: - NUCLEAR PLANTS: N/A - HYDRODAMS: N/A - AIRPORTS: N/A - PORTS: N/A BASED ON AN AUTOMATED IMPACT MODEL, THIS EARTHQUAKE, WHICH OCCURRED IN A REGION WITH MEDIUM VULNERABILITY TO NATURAL DISASTERS, HAS POTENTIALLY A UNKNOWN HUMANITARIAN IMPACT. EVENT DATE UNIV. TIME: TUE, 15 MAR 2016 14:41:39 UTC EUROPEAN TIME OF THE EVENT: 15 MAR 2016 15:41:39 EAST AMERICA TIME OF THE EVENT: 15 MAR 2016 09:41:39 WEST AMERICA TIME OF THE EVENT: 15 MAR 2016 06:41:39 EAST ASIA TIME OF THE EVENT: 15 MAR 2016 22:41:39 THIS EMAIL REPORT WAS AUTOMATICALLY CREATED BY A COMPUTER AT: 15 MAR 2016 15:10:24 (28 MIN AFTER THE EVENT) SEE THE GDACS WEBSITE FOR LIVE NEWS COVERAGE (INCLUDING OCHA SITUATION REPORTS), THE FULL EARTHQUAKE REPORT IS AT HTTP://WWW.GDACS.ORG/REPORT.ASPX?EVENTTYPE=EQ$AND;EPISODEID=1122438 FOR INFORMATION ON EMERGENCY RESPONSE, PLEASE CONSULT THE GDACS VIRTUAL OSOCC: HTTP://VOSOCC.UNOCHA.ORG ============================================================================================================ POPULATION DENSITY NEAR EPICENTER (PEOPLE/KM2). RADIUS (KM) POPULATION DENSITY (PEOPLE/KM2) 200 97297 12 175 97226 12 150 91138 12 125 4477 1 100 2906 0 75 2088 0 50 302 0 20 0 0 10 0 0 5 0 0 2 0 0 THE POPULATION IN THE 50 KM AREA OF THIS EARTHQUAKE IS 0 PEOPLE/KM2. ============================================================================================================ THE EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED AT 15 MAR 2016 02:59:26 LOCAL TIME. 15 MAR 2016 02:59:26 RESILIENCE AND VULNERABILITY ---------------------------- RESILIENCE IS THE CAPACITY OF THE POPULATION TO COPE WITH A HAZARD. SINCE MUCH OF INVESTMENTS IN EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS AND AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR QUICK RESPONSE IS RELATED TO HOUSEHOLD INCOME, THE GDP PER CAPITA CAN BE USED AS A ROUGH INDICATOR OF RESILIENCE. TONGA HAS A GDP PER CAPITA OF 1579 PPP$ (PARITY PURCHASING POWER DOLLAR, ABOUT 1 EURO) AND IS THEREFORE PART OF THE LOW LEVEL INCOME COUNTRIES. THEREFORE, THE EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED IN AN AREA OF LOW RESILIENCE. BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF 9 INDICATORS, ECHO ATTRIBUTES TONGA A MEDIUM VULNERABILITY. ============================================================================================================ SECONDARY EFFECTS ----------------- PROBABILITY OF SECONDARY EFFECTS: - LANDSLIDES: THE MAXIMUM SLOPE IN THE AREA OF THE EARTHQUAKE IS 20% AND THE MAXIMUM ALTITUDE IS 511 M. SINCE THIS IS A LOW SLOPE, THE RISK OF EARTHQUAKE INDUCED LANDSLIDES IS LOW. NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT THE SLOPE DATA IS NOT RELIABLE ON A LOCAL SCALE, WHILE LANDSLIDES DEPEND VERY MUCH ON LOCAL TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. - NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS: THERE ARE NO NUCLEAR FACILITIES NEARBY THE EPICENTER. - HYDRODAMS: THERE ARE NO HYDRODAM FACILITIES NEARBY THE EPICENTER. JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE, EUROPEAN COMMISSION (JRC-EC) - OFFICE FOR COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (UN-OCHA) ________________________________________ DISCLAIMER WHILE WE TRY EVERYTHING TO ENSURE ACCURACY, THIS INFORMATION IS PURELY INDICATIVE AND SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR ANY DECISION MAKING WITHOUT ALTERNATE SOURCES OF INFORMATION. THE JRC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED ON GDACS WEBSITE. PLEASE REFER TO THE GDACS WEBSITE FOR SUBSCRIBING OR UNSUBSCRIBING FROM THE EARTHQUAKE ALERT EMAIL OR SMS SERVICE. END OF EARTHQUAKE MESSAGE 001