Disaster Report: M 8.7 Massive earthquake shakes West coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia at 02:38 local time. The quake's epicenter was 434 km SW from Banda Aceh.
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Original Post: Natural Disasters List April 11, 2012
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Update
Five people reported to be killed and about seven people injured. Three died due to heart attack.
April 12, 2012 04:03 UTC
Aftershocks are continuously hitting off Indonesia.
M 5.0 @ 15 km depth, 621 km SW of Banda Aceh
M 4.8 @ 27 km depth, 368 km SW of Banda Aceh
M 4.7 @ 29 km depth, 299 km WSW of Banda Aceh
M 4.7 @ 20 km depth, 472 km SW of Banda Aceh
Update
Here is a good article by Guardian.co.uk regarding the reason behind no devastating Tsunami from Today's massive quake.
Why earthquake off Sumatra did not trigger a devastating tsunami?
The earthquake off the coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia began with a sudden shift in a strike-slip fault, a line of weakness in the sea floor where two huge bodies of rock can slide past one another.
Unlike the earthquake that triggered the devastating 2004 tsunami in the region, the sea floor moved sideways instead of vertically, meaning it displaced less water and did not send giant waves around the Indian Ocean.
Warning buoys, installed after the 2004 disaster, picked up a tsunami soon after the earthquake, but the highest waves that reached the nearby shoreline of Sumatra were only 80cm. The warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre was later lifted, at 12.36GMT on Wednesday.
Seismologists traced the earthquake at 2.38pm local time to a depth of 14 miles (22km) and 250 miles (400km) from the coast of Banda Aceh. The slippage occurred in a fracture in a slab of oceanic crust that is bending downwards and beneath Sumatra. The US geological survey said the main shock was magnitude 8.6, which is extraordinarily high for a strike-slip fault.
Two hours after the main shock was felt, the area was hit by a magnitude-8.2 aftershock, probably caused by slippage along the same 125-mile fault. The huge release of energy redistributed stress to other weak spots in the crust, making them more likely to cause future earthquakes.
"After an earthquake occurs along a fault, stress is released in parts. But then, part of this stress is redistributed to other parts of the fault. This means that they are now more likely to become unstable, with many subsequent earthquakes. Aftershocks can continue for weeks and months after the main shock, sometimes even years," said Bruce Malamud, an expert on natural hazards at King's College London.
Malamud said there had been an average of 17 large earthquakes (magnitude 7 or greater) a year around the world since 1900, and about 15 a year since 1990.
Update
-One person reported to be killed by heart attack in Banda Aceh.
-A bridge in Bubon Arongan reported to be damaged.
Update 16:11 UTC
-After 7 hours from the quake, damage reports are now coming in. As seen in the image below, walls of a prison in Aceh province in Indonesia is destroyed completely (source AP)
Update
Communication network seems normal now. Following officials at Telkomsel Corporate Communication, there are no disruption of communication networks in the area of Sumatra's Telkomsel.
Update 14:28 UTC
Three mini tsunami occurred in Lahewa (North Nias), Meulaboh, and Sabang of Indonesia.
Lahewa: 1.0 metres
Meulaboh: 0.8 metres
Sabang: 0.06 metres
Update 14:25 UTC
Tsunami warning is cancelled for India also.
Update 14:01 UTC
Indonesia has cancelled Tsunami warning. Now, people who were displaced could return home safely. However, BMKG urged people, especially along the western coast of Sumatra to remain vigilant.
Update
Tsunami warning still in effect for Indonesia, India Maldives, Sri Lanka and the island territory of Diego Garcia.
Update 12:10 UTC
Latest Tsunami Report:
This is what Geoscience Australia specialist Daniel Jaksa says, "Off the coast off Indonesia at the moment there's 50cm. Fifty centimetres can be quite dangerous. You only need about 20cm to lift up a car and make it move, so this is not insignificant."
Koh Miang island, off Phang Nga: 10cm wave
The French island of Reunion was also on alert.
Eastern coast of Africa, Kenya and Tanzania also issued their own tsunami warnings.
Time when Tsunami was observed:
-Tsunami wave observed at 09:56 UTC in DART 23401, in the Indian Ocean. The tsunami wave's height was 0.03 meters (0.1 feet). Another Tsunami was observed at 11:02 in Cocos Island, Indian Ocean with wave height of 0.05 meters (0.3 feet).
-Three mini tsunami occurred in Lahewa (North Nias), Meulaboh, and Sabang of Indonesia.
Lahewa: 1.0 metres
Meulaboh: 0.8 metres at 09:50 UTC
Sabang: 0.06 metres at 09:56 UTC
-Tsunami wave also observed in in Trinconmalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka at 11:16 UTC. The tsunami wave's height was 0.04 meters (0.1 feet)
-In Ko Taphao Noi, Phuket Province, Thailand Tsunami wave was observed at 11:43 UTC with waveheight 0.05 metres (0.2 feet)
Update 12:08 UTC
M 5.9 strong aftershocks in Indian Ocean with epicenter 749 km W of Banda Aceh.
Update 12:06 UTC
-Tsunami of 10 cm hits Thai coast.
-Several people evacuated from Islands of Phuket
-Tsunami warning issued for France's Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean
Update
Power outage in Aceh
Update 10:30 UTC
A small 30cm (1 foot) tsunami has been detected in Indonesian waters. If it is so, the coastal area might have already hit by Tsunami :(
Update 10:25 UTC
Indonesia's disaster agency is sending rescue team to Aceh in some minutes.
Update 10:19 UTC
Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre has advised people in the area to move to higher places and stay as far away as possible from the sea.
Phuket Airport temporary closed.
Update 10:13 UTC
Today's earthquake is the eight largest earthquake since 1900!
Update 10:09 UTC
Tsunami "less likely" because earthquake off Indonesia moved horizontally, not vertically, USGS spokesman tells BBC
Update 10:07 UTC
Indonesia's president just said that there is no reports of casualties or damage from quake in Aceh
Update
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR INDONESIA / INDIA / AUSTRALIA / SRI LANKA / MYANMAR / THAILAND / MALDIVES / UNITED KINGDOM / MALAYSIA / MAURITIUS / REUNION / SEYCHELLES / OMAN / PAKISTAN / SOMALIA / MADAGASCAR / IRAN / UAE / YEMEN / COMORES / MOZAMBIQUE / KENYA / TANZANIA / CROZET ISLANDS / BANGLADESH / KERGUELEN ISLANDS / SOUTH AFRICA / SINGAPORE
Update
It is good news that there is no detection of low tide that would indicate tsunami in Aceh, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. (but the waves clearly seen in this footage and people are running in panic)
Update 10:06 UTC
M 6.1 aftershocks in Indian Ocean with epicenter located 613 km SW Banda aceh
Update 10:04 UTC
Now, India issues tsunami warning for Andaman and Nicobars
Update
Tsunmai warning issued by Sri lanka too. A government statement said waves could hit the island's eastern coast by about 8.40 (AEST).
Update
Folowing USGS earthquake tremor was well felt as far as Maldives, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nepal.
Update
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency says quake aftershock of 6.5 on Richter scale in Aceh
 |
| People running to higher ground in Banda Aceh after the quake |
GDACS has issued RED TSUNAMI ALERT. In December 2004, a giant 9.1 quake triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarters of them in Aceh.
Update
Following USGS about 547,000 people will have felt very strong shaking of MMI VII.
Update
Earthquake was so powerful that tremor was felt as far away as Singapore, Burma and even as far away as India and Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
Update
An Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert issued for 28 countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Burma and Thailand.
Update
Indonesia issues tsunami warning.
Update
Currently hundreds of people on this blog from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal. Think that earthquake has strike in Bangladesh too.
M 8.7 massive earthquake shakes western Sumatra, Indonesia today, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
According ot the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake epicenter was 434 km SW from Banda Aceh, and 550 km SW of Lhokseumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia. It was 20.5 miles deep.
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
07:33 UTC (local time Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 02:38 PM @ epicenter)
Epicenter location
434 km SW of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
550 km SW of Lhokseumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia
963 km W of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
1797 km WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
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at what time did tsunami hit indonesia???
ReplyDeleteMeulaboh: 0.8 metres at 09:50 UTC
ReplyDeleteSabang: 0.06 metres at 09:56 UTC
It is very unfortunate that our scientists and scientific systems/observatories are either not fully fucntional or not in order to understand this earthquake events and we have to depend on US and other advanced countries inspite of sepending lot of public money . Regret .
ReplyDelete