As Hurricane Lane barrels towards Hawaii as a Category 4 storm packing sustained winds of 155 mph, officials in the Aloha state are warning residents they don’t have enough shelter space to meet the “estimated demands” of the population.
The National Weather Service’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. ET advisory that Lane, which is likely to cause catastrophic damage with winds 155 mph or above, is located about 460 miles south-southeast of Honolulu and moving west-northwest at 9 mph. The storm strengthened to a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds before slightly weakening, but hurricane warnings are in effect for Hawaii’s Big Island and the island of Maui.
“Some weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, but Lane is forecast to remain a dangerous hurricane as it draws closer to the Hawaiian Islands,” the CPHC said.
On Tuesday, emergency management officials across the state urged residents to prepare to evacuate if needed or shelter in place if its safe. Hawaii State Emergency Management Administrator Tom Travis said during a news conference that the priorities for state officials are to manage shelters because “we do not have enough shelters for everyone.”
“The sheltering policy should be – if you’re not in a flood zone, most citizens should remain in their homes,” Travis said. “If in a flood zone, actively seek shelter elsewhere with someone not in a flood zone or public shelter.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]A large swath of earthquakes hit the Pacific’s so-called Ring of Fire earlier this week, prompting some to wonder if it is a precursor to the oft-discussed massive earthquake, colloquially known as “the Big One.”
Sixty-nine earthquakes, including 16 tremors registering 4.5 or above on the Richter scale, recently hit the area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which recorded the events but did not issue a warning.
Several of the quakes registered significant impacts, including one that hit 5.0 and shook the area on Tuesday morning. Fiji appeared to be the most impacted, as five tremors above a 4.5 magnitude hit the small island.
Luckily, the earthquakes did not reach the western coast of the U.S., which partially sits on the Cascadia subduction zone, a fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. The recent tremors have sparked concern that “the Big One” could be near, according to The Daily Mail, but the USGS has made no mention of this.
Of the 69 earthquakes, 53 hit the area on Sunday, followed by the 16 subsequent tremors, impacting Indonesia, Bolivia, Japan and the aforementioned Fiji.
“The Big One” is often described as an earthquake with a magnitude 8 or above, causing massive destruction to California, which some have said is overdue for an earthquake of this magnitude. California sits on the San Andreas fault, a 750-mile fault that has been responsible for some of the state’s most devastating earthquakes.
The last earthquake that came close to a 8.0 magnitude in California was the great earthquake of 1906, which hit a magnitude of 7.9 and shook San Francisco to the ground, destroying 80 percent of the city and resulted in 3,000 deaths. – READ MORE
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