United States

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

September 01, 2012; 9:05 AM

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A tsunami warning was issued earlier Friday, EDT, for parts of the western Pacific rim and the western Pacific islands following a major undersea quake near the Philippines.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake was centered 58 miles offshore of Sulangan, Philippines in the vicinity of the Philippine Trench.

One person was killed in a house collapse in the Philippines following the earthquake, according to the Associated Press.

The tsunami warning, issued earlier, has been cancelled for Indonesia, Philippines, Bealau, Yap, Taiwan, Japan, Guam, Northern Mariana and Papua New Guinea.

A tsunami watch issued earlier for Hawaii, Chuuk, Marcus Island, Kosrae, Pohnpei, the Marshall Islands, Wake Island, the Solomon Islands, Russia and Nauru was also cancelled.

The quake was initially estimated as a magnitude 7.9 east of the Philippines in a sea floor subduction zone. A later bulletin reduced the magnitude of the quake to a 7.6.

The quake struck at 8:47 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. The depth of the quake was 21 miles below the sea floor and is considered to be a "shallow" quake.

Other lesser quakes (possible aftershocks) occurred less than an hour later in the same region at a similar depth with magnitudes of 5.5 and 5.4.

Shallow quakes tend to cause the most damage on land and can disturb the sea surface, producing a tsunami if the energy was directed in the vertical.

A buoy located east of the Philippines indicated a possible rapid change in sea surface conditions.

Tsunami waves measuring about 6 inches were reported in Surigao City, Philippines, sources say.

Tsunami watches and warnings are cancelled when, if after two hours, no major waves have occurred after estimated times of arrival of those waves.

The earthquake that produced the tsunami in Japan during March 2011 was a shallow quake in the subduction zone east of the island nation.

In Hawaii, National Weather Service officials expect only small non-destructive sea level changes and perhaps strong or unusual currents lasting for several hours beginning around 12:28 p.m. HST Friday.

Earlier this week, on Aug. 27, an undersea quake of magnitude 7.3 prompted tsunami warnings for Costa Rica, Nicaraqua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico. A minor tsunami was observed off of El Salvador, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

This story was originally published at 9:09 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 and has been updated.