The tsunami warning system on Hanalei Pier is now relying on the Internet instead of a cell phone. From its position on Kaua‘i’s North Shore, as the most northwesterly such system in the Hawaiian Islands, it is best positioned to
The tsunami warning system on Hanalei Pier is now relying on the Internet instead of a cell phone.
From its position on Kaua‘i’s North Shore, as the most northwesterly such system in the Hawaiian Islands, it is best positioned to warn of tsunamis generated by earthquakes in Japan or Alaska.
Until this week, the tide measuring system was connected by cell phone to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center staffed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Ewa Beach on O‘ahu.
As of 3 p.m. on Monday, the system is now connected via the Internet.
“Now we have high-speed Internet right on Hanalei Pier,” said the man who installed the system, Roger Gernold, a senior electronic technician for NOAA.
He installed a computer and a system to log the Hanalei Bay tides, powered by a new solar panel on the roof at the end of the pier. The actual measuring device is positioned in the water, he said.
The tides in Hanalei Bay are measured 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and any dramatic or sudden rise in the tide could signal the approach of a tsunami, he said.
Such information now can be transmitted to the warning center on O‘ahu instantly.
“This pier is perfect, because we can’t just measure tides off a beach,” Gernold said.
