An earthquake with an initial magnitude of 8.9 has struck under the sea off Indonesia's northern Aceh province.
The quake triggered a tsunami warning across the Indian Ocean region.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not yet known whether a tsunami had been generated, but advised authorities to "take appropriate action".
The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh.
The US Geological Survey, which documents quakes worldwide, said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
The tsunami centre's warning said quakes of such a magnitude "have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin".
Reuters reports that people in the region were making their way to higher ground.(BBC)
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a tsunami tweeted for the Aceh, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Lampung and Bengkulu on Wednesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a tsunami warning for the following 27 countries: Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Burma, Thailand, Maldives, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Reunion, Seychelles, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Madagascar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Comores, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, South Africa and Singapore. (Jakarta Globe)
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6.5 after quake
ReplyDeleteAn earthquake of 8.7 magnitude struck off the coast of Indonesia on Wednesday, sending residents there and in India dashing out of their homes and offices in fear. A tsunami warning was issued for the whole Indian Ocean.
The quake struck 500km southwest of the city of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, at a depth of 33km, the US Geological survey (USGS) said.
Indonesia's disaster management agency said power was down in Aceh province and people were gathering 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.
Residents in Banda Aceh reported the ground shaking violently.
"People are in a panic, and there are traffic jams everywhere in Banda Aceh," local Metro TV reported.
"There is potential for a tsunami to hit five provinces in the region – Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Lampung," said Marzuki, an analyst at Indonesia's Geophysics and Meteorology agency.
The quake was felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and in southern India, residents said. Hundreds of office workers in the Indian city of Bangalore left their buildings, workers there said.
The quake was in roughly in the same area as a Dec 26, 2004, quake of 9.1 magnitude, which sent huge tsunami waves crashing into Sumatra, where 170,000 people were killed, and across the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency has reported a 6.5 magnitude aftershock on the Richter scale following an 8.7 magnitude temblor.
In all, the 2004 tsunami killed about 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.
The 2004 quake was at a depth of 30kn along a fault line running under the Indian Ocean, off western Indonesia and up into the Bay of Bengal.
The quake was also felt in Sri Lanka and the southern Thai holiday island of Phuket, both of which were hit hard by the 2004 tsunami.
Thailand has issued tsunami warning in southern provinces of Phuket and Phang Na and urged those on Andaman coast to move to safe areas.
Sri Lanka has also issued tsunami warning across island.
http://www.mmail.com.my/story/quake-aceh-triggers-tsunami-warning-update
Indonesia president says no tsunami threat, damage from Aceh quake
ReplyDeletehttp://in.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/indonesia-quake-president-idINDEE83A08T20120411