Tsunami Alert System Fails After Pacific Quake
A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked Tonga in the South Pacific, triggering international warnings of a tsunami. The quake did not generate massive waves, but the messages failed to reach the island nation.
The temblor, centered about 95 miles south of the Tongan island of Neiafu, did little damage in South Pacific countries.
Maliu Takai, deputy director of Tonga’s National Disaster Office, said the system that should have passed along an alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had malfunctioned.
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