October 17, 2006 7AM HST

After two days of assessment by staff working emergency shifts, visual inspection has shown that the Subaru telescope avoided major damage from the earthquakes that shook Hawaii on the morning of October 15, 2006. Observations will resume as soon as it is safe to do so.

All Subaru staff and their immediate family who were on the island at the time of the earthquake are safe.

Careful assessment of the overall impact of the earthquakes on the telescope and its observing instruments will continue for some time, as these are complex precision instruments.

We thank everybody who has sent us expressions of concern and encouragement.