The National Coordination of Civil Protection of the Government of Mexico reported that the tsunami in Tonga, caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano in that country, generated the increase in tide in nine ports in Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where the level grew half a meter.
The agency added through social networks that other affected ports are Manzanillo, Colima; Ensenada, Baja California; Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan; Zihuatanejo and Acapulco, Guerrero; Puerto Angel and Salinas Cruz, Oaxaca and Puerto Chipas, Chiapas.
So far, the maximum amplitude that has been recorded is 2.053 meters at the Manzanillo, Colima station. From there it is followed by Zihuatanejo with 1.19 meters, Acapulco, Huatulco, Salina Cruz and Puerto Chiapas with about 95 cm, Puerto Ángel with 75 cm, Puerto Vallarta with 65 cm, Lázaro Cárdenas with 44 cm and Mazatlán with 43 cm.
The distance between the island of Tonga and Mexico is 9,300 km and the tsunami took 8 hours to reach the Mexican coast when the first movements were recorded shortly after 6 am on Saturday, however, the highest elevation of the sea was after 11:30 am and it continued to move throughout the afternoon.
The arrival of the tsunami waves begins to be very evident after 12:00 UTC (06:00 central Mexico CST) and the first station to record these variations was Lázaro Cardenas, Michoacán, a maximum value of 0.026 m at 18:10 UTC ( 12:10 central Mexico CST), which results in a maximum amplitude of 44 cm. The period in this station (time between tsunami waves) was approximately 17 minutes.
The sea level measured in Manzanillo, Colima shows a maximum value of 1,019 m at 17:56 UTC (11:56 central Mexico CST), which results in a maximum amplitude of 2.053 meters that occurred between these hours, and a period (time between waves) of 29 minutes. It can also be seen that there are slight oscillations that begin to be seen at 10:54 UTC (04:54 central Mexico CST), and that the variations begin to be evident after 13:00 UTC ( 07:00 central Mexico CST ).
At the Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco station, a maximum value of 0.122 was recorded at 18:25 UTC (12:25 Central Mexico CST), resulting in a maximum amplitude of 65 cm for this station. The period recorded for this event (time between tsunami waves) is approximately 8 minutes. Tsunami waves started to be seen slightly after 12:34 UTC ( 06:34 Central Mexico CST ) and were quite evident after 15:44 UTC (09:44 Central Mexico CST).
