Archive for February 27th, 2010

February 27 Chilean Earthquake / Tsunami Stuff (UPDATED 2:53PM)

General, Ports of Call | Posted by Gilligan
Feb 27 2010

As everyone undoubtebly knows by know, Chile suffered a huge 8.8 earthquake this morning.  This earthquake generated at least one tsunami, and that tsunami is currently making its way through the Pacific.  The NOAA has issued tsunami advisories for the entire Pacific coast of California, which means that they are expecting strong currents and wave activity.  The activity should begin in the early afternoon (noonish for San Diego). 

We called Muggs this morning but were unable to reach her, most likely because they are busy getting ready for the strong currents that are probably heading their way.  A quick bit of math suggests that the currents won’t get to La Paz until just before noon at the earliest, so there’s no reason to worry about anything right now.

To be on the safe side, we sent Muggs an SMS letting her know that they’re on our minds, and asking that she let us know that they’re safe once the danger has passed. We will post a message on here the moment we hear from our intrepid adventurers.

In the meantime, it is probably a good idea to ask everyone to hold off on trying to reach them until after all the excitement has subsided (probably this evening). That way they can focus on getting ready and riding out any currents or waves, without any additional distractions. Stayed tuned to this site for news and updates as we get them, and please let us know if you hear anything about what’s going on down there.

Thank you,

Patrick

***** UPDATE: 12:39PM PST********

Great News: I just received an SMS from Muggs stating that “Everything is fine. Not even a ripple. Website update soon.”

***** UPDATE: 2:53PM *******

I just ran across a blog post from another sailing couple in Baja. You can find the post at http://worrallwind.blogspot.com/2010/02/tsunami-warning-and-passing-tsunami.html.  Apparently, the only thing they noticed was a set of mini-tides, switching from flood to ebb repeatedly.