Sailing in the Ring of Fire
08 October 2009 | Savusavu, Vanua Levu
Bryan
Approaching Savusavu yesterday around noon we received a tsunami warning for Fiji over the VHF radio. Considering the devastation caused by the tsunami in the Samoas last week we took this news seriously. Fortunately we were still out in the deep water of the Koro Sea so we were in no danger, but local radio confirmed that cities in western Fiji were emptying out. The warning was triggered by a series of three magnitude 7 plus undersea quakes in the vicinity of northern Vanuatu some 400 miles to the west - about an hour's traveling time for a tsunami. Fortunately no tsunami developed, but after events in Indonesia and Samoa people in the South Pacific have become very jumpy about seismic activity.