Wednesday 11 April 2012

Massive Earthquake in Indonesia

Massive quakes off Indonesia spark panic
Two massive earthquakes that triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings for the Indian Ocean basin and sent panicked people running for safety have been followed by 19 aftershocks of magnitude five or greater






12 April, 2012.

The main quake, an 8.6-magnitude quake, struck at 8.38pm (NZT) off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, according to the US Geological Service (USGS). It had initially been graded as an 8.9.

The second, an 8.2, struck in the same area at 10.43pm (NZT). Seventeen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 and above followed.

Waves of up to one metre high were seen near islands off Aceh, however there were no reports of deadly tsunamis or serious damage, and a watch for the Indian Ocean was lifted after a few hours.

Indonesia said it was checking for damage and casualties but remarkably, no such reports had been received for several hours after the quakes, including in Aceh, the closest province.

Aceh was the area decimated by the 2004 Boxing Day disaster, in which a giant 9.1-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three-quarters of them in the province.

However, some areas close to the epicentre were remote so it could take some time to find out if there was any damage.

Indonesia's disaster management agency said power failed in Aceh and people gathered on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.

"The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.

"The warning system worked," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

Warning sirens also rang out across the Thai island of Phuket, a tourist hotspot that was one of the worst-hit areas in the 2004 tsunami.

"Guests from expensive hotels overlooking Phuket's beaches were evacuated to the hills behind and local people were driving away in cars and on motorcycles. Everyone seemed quite calm, the warning had been issued well in advance," freelance journalist Apichai Thonoy said.

Many people were frightened of further tremors.

"It's dark out here but I am scared to go home," said Mila, a 41-year-old woman taking refuge in the grand mosque in the town of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

"I just want to stay alert because I fear there will be more quakes coming. We are human, it is only natural that we have fear, but I really wish we will all be safe."

Waves of up to one metre high were seen near islands off Aceh, but Indonesia cancelled a warning of fresh tsunamis. It said the worst-hit area was the sparsely-populated island of Simeulue, off Aceh's southern coast.

The first major quake was 435 kilometres from Aceh's provincial capital, USGS said.
The tsunami watch that followed from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii advised countries all along the rim of the Indian Ocean, from Australia and India to as far off as Africa, that a tsunami could be generated.

But just as the region was sighing relief, the 8.2-magnitude aftershock hit.

"We just issued another tsunami warning," Prih Harjadi, from Indonesia's geophysics agency, told TVOne in a live interview.

His countrymen were told to stay clear of western coasts.

Again, the threat quickly passed.

Experts said both quakes were geologically different than the one that spawned the 2004 tsunami, occurring horizontally, with the tectonic plates sliding against each other, creating more of a vibration in the water.

The other type of earthquake, a "mega thrust", like the one that hit off the coast of Japan last year, caused the seabed to heave and displaced water vertically, sending towering waves racing toward shores.

Roger Musson, seismologist at the British geological survey who has studied Sumatra's fault lines, said initially he'd been "fearing the worst."

"But as soon as I discovered what type of earthquake it was ... I felt a lot better."

The tremors were felt in neighbouring Malaysia, where high-rise buildings shook. Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and India also were rattled.

Jason Williams, a Kiwi working in the Malaysian city of Georgetown, Penang, felt the quake as a long rocking motion.

It went on for over a minute, he said.

"We thought 'gee this thing is not going to let up'."

Williams said he had felt more severe aftershocks in Christchurch, but the length of the earthquake was unusual.

Along with locals, he rushed for the exits of Penang International Airport, where he was working.

"We stood on the apron and watched the planes rocking back and forth."

There were no signs of damage in Georgetown, he said.

But it was the streets of Aceh where real chaos broke out.

Patients poured out of hospitals, some with drips still attached to their arms. In some places, electricity was briefly cut.

Hours after the quake, people were still standing outside their homes and offices, afraid to go back inside.

"I was in the shower on the fifth floor of my hotel," Timbang Pangaribuan told El Shinta radio from the city of Medan. "We all ran out. ... We're all standing outside now."

He said one guest was injured when he jumped from a window.

Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center issued an evacuation order in six provinces along the country's west coast, including the tourist destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phang-Nga.

India's Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for parts of the eastern Andaman and Nicobar islands. In Tamil Nadu in southern India, police cordoned off the beach and used loudspeakers to warn people to leave the area.

The quake was felt in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where many people in the city's commercial Motijheel district left their offices and homes in panic and ran into the streets. In Male, the capital of the Maldives, buildings were evacuated.

Indonesia straddles the "ring of fire", a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.








It would seem that Sumatra is not the only place to have experienced earthquakes in the last day or so as this clip from Mr Cometwatch will show.






7.0 Mexico/ 5.9 Oregon Coast/8.6 Sumatra/6.1 Tokyo.

The Day of the Great Quakes, the Pacific Plate Shifts,


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