Despite earlier warnings of a possible tsunami affecting Mexico’s Pacific coast, Mexican officials said the country is not at risk of any dangerous tidal effects as a result of Saturday’s massive earthquake in Ecuador,
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) had warned that it was possible that the earthquake that registered 7.8 degrees on the Richter scale would generate a tsunami in that country and in twenty other nations bordering the Pacific, including Mexico.
On its website, the PTWC warned that the tsunami may produce waves of between 0.3 and 1 meter above sea level in “some coasts of Ecuador” because of the strong earthquake.
In addition, if they occur, the tsunami waves would be “less than 0.3 meters,” on the shores of other countries, among which are Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, according to the US agency.
But later, another United States agency, the US Geological Survey (USGS), ruled out the possibility of a tsunami to the Mexican coast after the earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale in Ecuador.
For their part, Mexican officials also attempted to assuage initial concerns about a Mexican tsunmai.
Through his Twitter account, the National Coordinator of Civil Protection of the Ministry of the Interior, Luis Felipe Puente, said the USGS confirmed that our country is out of danger from this alert, which initially was aimed at more than 20 nations with the Pacific coast.
In the same social network, Luis Felipe Puente asked not to spread rumors about it and urged people to stay informed through @PcSegob and follow the recommendations of the authorities.
No tsunami possible on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, officials said. (MAP: abc.net.au)
The same warning had been issued for Australia, Antarctica, Japan, Indonesia, Russia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hawaii, the Cook Islands and American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia, Marshall Islands, Guam, the island of Jarvis and the Kermadec.
The alert also affected Taiwan, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Solomon, Howland and Baker, Chuuk, Kiribati, Kosrae, Midway Island, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau Islands, the island of Palmyra, the Pitcairn Islands, Pohnpei, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wake island, those of Wallis and Futuna and Yap.
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