The tsunami watch for the State of Hawai’i was cancled effective 12:20pm HST.  The tsunami watch was issued following an 8.1 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands region near New Zealand at 9:28am HST.

Although the watch has been canceled, Hawaii County Civil Defense announced the following precautionary measures:

• All beaches and beach parks in West Hawai’i from Keokea Beach Park in North Kohala south to Ho’okena Beach Park will be closed at 2pm today.  There is no Tsunami threat from the earthquake, however strong currents and rip tides may affect coastal waters and beaches this afternoon.