8.7 Earthquake

[Capt_Picard 0]

This just in...

Over 290 Killed As 8.7 Quake Rocks Indonesia

March 28, 2005

By KOMO Staff & News Services

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA - major earthquake struck late Monday off the west coast of Indonesia, and a local government official said 296 people were killed in collapsed buildings. Thousands panicked in countries across the Indian Ocean as tsunami warnings were posted.

Fears of another catastrophe similar to December's devastating tsunami eased within hours, as officials in countries closest to the quake's epicenter said there were no reports of big waves striking their coasts after the temblor was reported.

Early reports of damage and casualties were confined to the island of Nias, off the Sumatran coast, close to the epicenter.

The quake collapsed about 70 percent of houses and buildings in the town of Gunungsitoli, said police Sgt. Zulkifli Sirait.

Agus Mendrofa, deputy district head on Nias island, told el-Shinta radio station that 296 people were killed. He said this figure was based on reports from humanitarian workers on the island.

"We still cannot count the number of casualties or the number of collapsed building because it is dark here," Sirait said in a telephone interview. "It is possible that hundreds of people trapped in the collapsed buildings died."

KOMO 4 News did get word from the locally-based relief agencies Northwest Medical Teams and Mercy Corps that their relief workers in the area from the previous quake have checked in safe.

Nias, a renowned surfing spot, was badly hit by the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26 that killed at least 175,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean nations and left another 106,000 missing. At least 340 residents of Nias perished and 10,000 were left homeless.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Monday's quake, which occurred at 11:09 p.m. local time (11:09 a.m. EST), measured a magnitude of 8.2. A later reading put the magnitude at 8.7, said Paul Earle, a USGS geophysicist.

A tsunami warning was issued in Thailand and Sri Lanka, although officials in Thailand and Sri Lanka later canceled it. The only tsunami reported within four hours was a tiny one - less than 4 inches - at the Cocos Islands, a group of 27 islands about 1,400 miles west of Australia with a population of about 600, meteorologists in Sydney said. No damage was reported.

"It seems this earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. If it had, the tsunami would have hit the coastline of Sumatra by now," said Prihar Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesia Geophysics Agency. "And if there's no tsunami on the coastline near the epicenter of the quake, there will not be one heading in the other direction."

Indonesian officials said the epicenter was in the Indian Ocean about 56 miles south of the island of Simeulu, off Sumatra's west coast, and just north of Nias. It was described by a USGS geologist as an aftershock of the devastating Dec. 26 quake.

Preliminary indications are that energy from the quake might be directed toward the southwest, said Frank Gonzalez, an oceanographer with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle. He stressed it was based on "very scanty information" about the epicenter and magnitude.

Monday's quake had an epicenter about 110 miles southeast of where the Dec. 26 quake was centered. The USGS said it occurred on a segment of the same fault line that triggered the Dec. 26 quake, the world's biggest in 40 years.

Two aftershocks - one measuring 6.0 and another measuring 6.7 - were reported in the same region late Monday and early Tuesday, the USGS said.

The quake occurred at a depth of 18.6 miles, and was centered 125 west-northwest of Sibolga, Sumatra, and 150 miles southwest of Medan, Sumatra, the USGS said.

The depth does not mean a lot for a quake this large, Earle said, calling it a near-surface earthquake and comparable to the one in December. After that quake, the agency initially recorded the depth of the temblor at six miles. Shallow earthquakes like that generally are more destructive because the seismic energy is closer to the surface and has shorter to travel.

Monday's quake was considered to be at a moderate depth.

The Dec. 26 quake triggered a huge tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a passenger jet. More than 1.5 million people were left homeless in 11 countries.

In Banda Aceh, the Sumatran city hit hardest in December, Monday's quake spread panic as it briefly cut electricity. Thousands were awakened and poured into the streets.

The quake lasted about two minutes and felt like gentle swaying, like a rocking chair, causing people to feel dizzy.

People grabbed small bags of clothes as they fled tents and homes. Many were crying and jumping into cars and onto motorbikes and pedicabs to head for higher ground. Two women wearing prayer shawls and sarongs grabbed a fence and chanted "Allahu akbar," or "God is great."

"People are still traumatized, still scared, they are running for higher ground," said Feri, a 24-year-old aid volunteer who goes by one name.

Panic gripped at least one relief camp in Banda Aceh. An Associated Press photographer saw thousands fleeing their tents - but with nowhere to go, they milled in crowds along the road. Police with megaphones coaxed people back to their tents.

Warning sirens blared along Sri Lanka's east coast, the government urged people to evacuate immediately to higher ground, and all night trains traveling along the coast were suspended.

The Sri Lankan military was put on full alert and several naval ships monitored the coast, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake. Fishermen at sea were warned not to return to shore.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga called an emergency meeting at her home with Cabinet members and went on state TV to assure the country "we are taking all precautionary measures."

Low-lying coastal areas in Malaysia's northern states also were evacuated.

On Dec. 26, the tsunami crashed onto coastlines in Indonesia's Aceh province within 45 minutes of the massive earthquake hitting offshore, but Sri Lanka was hit several hours later after the waves traveled the breadth of the Indian Ocean.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said U.S. diplomatic missions in Asia and Africa went into "battle mode" to respond quickly to any contingency.

The quake was felt as far away as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, more than 435 miles from the epicenter.

In Malaysia, panicked residents of Kuala Lumpur and Penang fled their apartments and hotels after authorities activated fire alarms. Police evacuated low-lying coastal areas of the northern states of Penang and Kedah.

"I was getting ready for bed, and suddenly, the room started shaking," said Kuala Lumpur resident Jessie Chong. "I thought I was hallucinating at first, but then I heard my neighbors screaming and running out."

Singapore residents of high-rise apartments reported buildings swayed.

Slight tremors were felt in the Thai capital of Bangkok, and officials issued a tsunami warning in southern Thailand, where more than 3,000 died in December. Officials later said the danger appeared to have passed.

Japan's Meteorological Agency, which also recorded the quake, reportedly notified six Indian Ocean countries - Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Malaysia - about a possible tsunami.

NOAA spokesman Greg Romano said the U.S. State Department passed warnings to foreign governments.

Officials said after the December disaster that a tsunami early warning system could have saved many lives. Such a system exists in the Pacific but has not been established in the Indian Ocean.

Japan and the United States had planned to start providing tsunami warnings to countries around the Indian Ocean this month as a stopgap measure until the region establishes its own alert system.

Edited March 28, 2005 by Capt_Picard

[HRH The KING 0]

Thankfully it seems that the earthquake didn't trigger a tsunami this time.

[Odie 0]

I saw it on the news before I left the hotel room. I am greatful that there was no tsunami.

[Yillara Skye 1]

I am glad to hear that there was no resulting tsunami, and that they immediately went on the alert just in case (in the 600 mile radius from the epicenter).

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

Whow, thats insane! As both peopel above me have already said, thank goodness there was no tsunmai(i cant spell).

[MrPsychic 1]

The faultline moved differently this time compared to the December 26th quake. Since it moved southwest instead of northeast, it triggered only a small tsunami off the coast of Australia.

[Itchygomba69 0]

Strange that this hit this area the day after 2 major Christan Holidays, Makes you think a little