Breaking News: Earth Quake! New Tsunami?

[siam]

I hope this doesn't prove to be another Boxing Day!  From the maps I've seen (and there are several on the net, none of which show the same location) I don't think Phuket has too much to worry about.

This earthquake is a long way south of the 12/26 jolt.  Then, there was a clear, unobstructed path for the tsunami from the epicenter to the Phuket area.  This time, Sumatra blocks the straight path.  Tsunamis can turn around land masses (this happened in Hawaii in 1946) but they usually lose most of their force in the process.

Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and the other areas hit in December could have more problems, though.

It's now been over an hour, so we should know in a couple of hours if Phuket will have a problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lanny was watching a programme last night on UK tv,Tsunami's can turn round land its called refraction and it can actually come back around islands this is called defraction and Thailand and Malaysia would not be safe.

[ferd54]

Of some comfort might be the fact that experts basically called this one. Perhaps they're getting closer to be able to predict with better accuracy. See:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29769

[sajal]

OMG!!!!!

yesterday night i was on the sofa workin on my pc at my home on 20th floor...

i felt something not sure if it was a quake or not(was not in this region on 26th dec)...

i simply concluded its just me....,...i was too tired so the fatigue could have coused it,...

now am shocked to hear abt the quake.,....

[dr_Pat_Pong]

For now at least all seems well. Thank God.

[Bonkers]

Does anyone know if any 'early warning system' was set off last night in Phuket as a result of the quake? Would be interesting to know if the authorities have got something functional already and it actually worked. Or was it the CNN and BBC watchers who spread the word? Either way, it appears to have worked to get people away from the beaches.

There was no way this was as intense as the December one, which went on for several minutes and sent chimes into a frenzy. (Me too, come to think of it! )

UK TV reports of Bangkok condos having caving-in ceilings seems a bit extreme.....anyone covered in plaster this morning?

[sajal]

Does anyone know if any 'early warning system' was set off last night in Phuket as a result of the quake? Would be interesting to know if the authorities have got something functional already and it actually worked. Or was it the CNN and BBC watchers who spread the word? Either way, it appears to have worked to get people away from the beaches.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

no... it was the member of thaivisa.com/forum who spred the news... read post #1 ;-)

[FarangBha]

Up to 2000 reported dead in Indonesia - just in from abc radio, australia

[Artisan]

What is it about Christian holy days? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is it about Christian holy days indeed? Boxing Day (26 December) has its origins in a pagan festival and Easter Monday ceased to be a holy day in 1829. Easter Monday is the day after Easter. It is a National Holiday in most countries although in the USA only one state, North Carolina, recognizes the holiday.

[hkt83100]

Didn't feel anything in Chalong (Phuket), but - according to Thai TV - in Patong they're running for the hills...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They were, absolutely! 7/11 in Nanai Road closed, most of the bars down in Bangla and Paradise, too. In the road along the hill almost no room to park the car, and the restaurants up there were packed full. About 3 a.m. in the morning TV reported, that everyone should go home and sleep.

[hilly]

[Looks like the danger of any Tsunami has now passed bit a lot more people in Indonesia are now dead. We left Christmas Island on Saturday evening which is next to Cocos that did have a small Tsunami but even there is OK.

This is a another blow for tourism along the west coast. What a bloody tragedy and lets hope this is the very end of it. TV showing panic in Phuket which is to be expected. Very sad.

Hear in Pattaya we felt nothing.

[astral]

What is it about Christian holy days indeed? Boxing Day (26 December) has its origins in a pagan festival and Easter Monday ceased to be a holy day in 1829.  Easter Monday is the day after Easter. It is a National Holiday in most countries although in the USA only one state, North Carolina, recognizes the holiday.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It may be a holiday in the US and Europe, but not in Asia!!

[Darknight]

Hundreds Feared Dead in Indonesia Quake; No Tsunami

By Tomi Soetjipto

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were feared killed in a massive 8.7 magnitude earthquake that hit a small island off western Indonesia on Monday, but panic across Asia that it could lead to another devastating tsunami soon receded.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said between 1,000 and 2,000 people could have been killed in the quake -- one of the eight biggest in the world since 1900 -- although a local mayor put the figure more conservatively at around 200.

The epicenter was very close to that of the Dec. 26 quake, measuring 9.0, which triggered a tsunami that left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across Asia.

"Roughly it is expected between 1,000 and 2,000 died," Kalla told El Shinta news radio of the quake, which struck near Nias island off Sumatra.

Agus Mendrofa, deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli on Nias, was quoted by Metro TV as saying some 10,000 of the town's 27,000 population had fled for higher ground.

"Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is extreme panic," he said.

The quake, which struck close to or after midnight across the region, spread terror in western Indonesia, Sri Lanka and coastal parts of India, Malaysia and Thailand, the areas devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Sirens wailed and tens of thousands of panic-stricken people were evacuated after tsunami warnings, while others drove or ran from coastlines to higher ground.

But there were no signs of a tsunami up to nine hours after the 11:09 a.m. EST quake and alerts were later withdrawn in most areas.

A senior police officer in Gunungsitoli told Reuters that many people were trapped in damaged buildings.

"The earthquake was massive, it's still shaking now," said A. Nainggolan, the town's deputy police chief

Nias, off the western coast of Sumatra and about 870 miles northwest of Jakarta, is a remote, rugged island regarded as a surfing paradise for a fabled right-hand break.

DEVASTING POTENTIAL

The Pacific tsunami warning center said earlier that the quake had the potential to cause a "widely destructive tsunami" and authorities should take "immediate action," including evacuating coastlines within 600 miles of the epicenter.

But the center added: "Authorities can assume the danger has passed if no tsunami waves are observed in the region near the epicenter within three hours of the earthquake."

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said it had recorded two small waves in the Cocos Islands, the first only three inches but the second of 10 inches. The Cocos Islands, south of Sumatra, recorded a 13.2-inch wave as a result of the Boxing Day tsunami.

Unlike in the immediate aftermath of the December quake, reactions were quick in nations on the rim of the Indian Ocean and tsunami warnings were issued across the region.

But well before dawn, Thailand and Sri Lanka canceled the alerts and Indian officials followed soon after.

Thailand had earlier evacuated people living along parts of its west coast, including tourists on the resort island of Phuket, while Malaysia issued a warning to coastal residents.

"About 3,000 to 4,000 tourists and locals have been evacuated from Patong and Kamala beaches to higher places," Phuket deputy governor Wichai Buapradit told Reuters.

Authorities in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, north of the epicenter, issued a preliminary tsunami warning as did the federal government in New Delhi. Sirens wailed in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Trincomalee and many coastal areas were evacuated, residents said.

The quake was felt as far away as Singapore and the Malaysian coastal city of Penang, jolting people out of their beds.

"It felt stronger than on Dec. 26," said Arumugam Gopal, a resident of Penang.

U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Don Blakeman said Monday's quake was considered a "great earthquake" because it was larger than a magnitude 8. He said it was an aftershock from December's quake but was a "very serious earthquake in its own right."

[eljeque]

What was it about this not happening again for something like another 300 years? Earthquake or Tsunami, we will learn more about exactly what happened on the smaller Indonesian islands over the next few days.

[Darknight]

Death toll in hundreds after Indonesia quake

29 Mar 2005 05:02:12 GMT

Source: Reuters

(Updated - Adds airport designated for relief operations, paragraph 8)

By Tomi Soetjipto

MEDAN, Indonesia, March 29 (Reuters) - Hundreds are known to have died in a massive 8.7 magnitude earthquake that hit a small island off western Indonesia overnight, but panic across Asia that it would trigger another devastating tsunami soon receded.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said between 1,000 and 2,000 people could have been killed in the quake, one of the eight biggest in the world since 1900.

The epicentre was very close to that of the Dec. 26 quake, measuring 9.0, which triggered a tsunami that left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across Asia.

"Roughly it is expected between 1,000 and 2,000 died," Kalla told El Shinta news radio of the quake, which struck near Nias island off Sumatra and devastated the main town, Gunungsitoli.

In the Sumatran city of Medan, Erni Ginting, a spokeswoman for the disaster centre for Aceh and North Sumatra, told reporters: "The official death toll stands at 322."

She said all the fatalities were on Nias, 220 of them in Gunungsitoli.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cancelled a planned trip to Australia this week and would visit Nias in the next one or two days, officials said.

Information Minister Sofyan Djalil said authorities had designated an airport at Sibolga on the mainland, opposite Nias, as the hub for relief flights as the control tower on the island's airstrip had collapsed.

Earlier, Agus Mendrofa, deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli, was quoted by Metro TV as saying some 10,000 of the town's 27,000 population had fled for higher ground.

"Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is extreme panic," he said.

The quake, which struck close to or after midnight across the region, spread terror in western Indonesia, Sri Lanka and coastal parts of India, Malaysia and Thailand, the areas devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Sirens wailed and tens of thousands of panic-stricken people were evacuated after tsunami warnings, while others drove or ran from coastlines to higher ground.

But there were no signs of a tsunami up to nine hours after the 1609 GMT quake and alerts were later withdrawn in most areas.

A senior police officer in Gunungsitoli told Reuters that many people were trapped in damaged buildings.

"The earthquake was massive, it's still shaking now," said A. Nainggolan, the town's deputy police chief.

Nias, about 1,400 km (870 miles) northwest of Jakarta, is a remote, rugged island regarded as a surfing paradise for a fabled right-hand break.

DEVASTING POTENTIAL

The Pacific tsunami warning centre said earlier that the quake had the potential to cause a "widely destructive tsunami" and authorities should take "immediate action," including evacuating coastlines within 600 miles (1,000 km) of the epicentre.

But the centre added: "Authorities can assume the danger has passed if no tsunami waves are observed in the region near the epicentre within three hours of the earthquake."

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said it had recorded two small waves in the Cocos Islands, the first only 10 cm (three inches) high but the second of 25 cm. The Cocos Islands, south of Sumatra, recorded a 33-cm wave after the December quake.

Unlike in the immediate aftermath of that quake, reactions were quick in nations on the rim of the Indian Ocean and tsunami warnings were issued across the region.

But well before dawn, Thailand and Sri Lanka cancelled the alerts and Indian officials followed soon after.

Thailand had earlier evacuated people living along parts of its west coast, including tourists on the resort island of Phuket, while Malaysia issued a warning to coastal residents.

"About 3,000 to 4,000 tourists and locals have been evacuated from Patong and Kamala beaches to higher places," Phuket deputy governor Wichai Buapradit told Reuters.

Authorities in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, north of the epicentre, issued a preliminary tsunami warning as did the federal government in New Delhi. Sirens wailed in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Trincomalee and many coastal areas were evacuated, residents said.

The quake was felt as far away as Singapore and the Malaysian coastal city of Penang, jolting people out of their beds.

"It felt stronger than on Dec. 26," said Arumugam Gopal, a resident of Penang.

U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Don Blakeman said Monday's quake was considered a "great earthquake" because it was larger than a magnitude 8. He said it was an aftershock from December's quake but was a "very serious earthquake in its own right"

[Andrew K Fletcher]

From UK BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4388579.stm

Lethal quake rattles tsunami zone

A massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia has killed hundreds of people and triggered tsunami alerts around the Indian Ocean.

The 8.7 magnitude quake struck just before midnight, destroying buildings on the Sumatra island of Nias.

Thousands of people fled their homes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka - areas still recovering from the deadly tsunami in December.

But three hours after the quake, tsunami alerts were scaled down.

The situation here is in extreme panic

Agus Mendrofa

Official on Nias island

Thousands flee coastal areas

How earthquakes happen

Oxfam experts fly out

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla told the BBC he feared up to 2,000 people may have died on Nias, not far from the epicentre.

But he said this figure was based on an assessment of damaged buildings, not a body count. Local officials said about 300 people were feared dead.

Around 80% of buildings had been affected in the town of Gunungsitoli, Mr Kalla said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono postponed a planned trip to Australia and said he would fly to the island to assess the damage.

"We are busy now trying to pull people or bodies of children from the collapsed building," said a police officer on Nias. "It is very hard also because there is no power."

'Simply huge'

Agus Mendrofa, deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli, told Indonesian TV: "Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is in extreme panic."

In Indonesia's Aceh province, people fled for higher ground

Nias lies about 200km (125 miles) off the Sumatran mainland, and to the south of the province of Aceh, the area worst affected by December's tsunami.

A Christian missionary working outside the town said hundreds of wounded had come to the mission seeking help.

The tremor struck at around 2315 local time (1615 GMT) and lasted up to three minutes, Indonesian monitors said.

The 26 December tsunami killed an estimated 300,000 people in a dozen countries - two-thirds of them in Indonesia.

"It seems [Monday's] earthquake did not trigger a tsunami," Prihar Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesian Geophysics Agency, told AP.

"And if there's no tsunami on the coastline near the epicentre... there will not be one heading in the other direction."

In Aceh province, an aid worker for Christian charity Tearfund, Jon Kennedy, said the ground had "swayed".

"It was simply huge - we ran into the street," he said.

Aceh people say the tremors have been getting progressively stronger over the past couple of weeks.

'Neighbours screaming'

US Geological Survey spokesman Don Blakeman told Reuters news agency that while Monday's quake was an after-shock of the earlier quake, which had a magnitude of 9, it was also a "very serious earthquake in its own right".

Ninety seconds is a very long time in an earthquake

Gareth A Richards

Kuala Lumpur resident

Your comments

In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, some 500km from the epicentre, high-rise buildings were evacuated and people ran into the streets.

"I was getting ready for bed, and suddenly, the room started shaking," said Kuala Lumpur resident Jessie Chong.

Thailand and India, badly hit by the December disaster, temporarily issued tsunami alerts while Sri Lanka evacuated coastal areas.

"It was like reliving the same horror of three months ago," said Sri Lankan Fatheena Faleel.

[Artisan]

What is it about Christian holy days indeed? Boxing Day (26 December) has its origins in a pagan festival and Easter Monday ceased to be a holy day in 1829.  Easter Monday is the day after Easter. It is a National Holiday in most countries although in the USA only one state, North Carolina, recognizes the holiday.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It may be a holiday in the US and Europe, but not in Asia!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ain't that the truth! Hazarding a guess, could that be something to do with Asia being largely non-Christian? These 'holidays' are attached (conveniently) to Christian festivals.

[Kan Win]

Also noted (the big ones) happened in and around the Full Moon period, Feb Iran (Feb 22 2005), March this one.

December 2004 on Full Moon. Someone mentioned 3 Planets lined up behind that one on this forum after it happend.

Anyone think this is strange or is it just me ?

Sad days.

R.I.P.

Edited March 29, 2005 by Kan Win

[DaveYo]

Yes planetary alignments and cosmic events does affect the earth. Sometimes the pulls and shifts that it causes itself, can trigger many events on any planet.

It would be interesting to see what the cosmos lineup was the day of the earthquake, and sort of compare if it is close or almost identical to the incident last year.

So if anyone is a scientist or has any connections, how about asking and making an inquiry into this possiblilty.

As of this quake, this one is the last one for awhile. It took place near the bottom of the plate which contains all the magma from the earths core. which means the plate settled in and tightened up and got squashed of all sorts.

By the way folks that magma is roughly only about 20 miles down beneath our feet and this magma contains some super high pressure that can boggle ones mind. In some areas it is less and in some areas it is a bit more, but never the less we are basically floating on plates that move from time to time.

Daveyo

[britmaveric]

DaveYo- did you just watch the movie- The Core??

[DaveYo]

Ohhhhh that movie, huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no but I know my geography.

Daveeeeyo

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Ohhhhh that movie, huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no but I know my geography.

Daveeeeyo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[maerim]

As of this quake, this one is the last one for awhile. It took place near the bottom of the plate which contains all the magma from the earths core. which means the plate settled in and tightened up and got squashed of all sorts.

One of the delights of reading the posts by DaveYo is the technical explanations he gives.

No matter if it is aircraft security ( including the bits he is sworn to secrecy about and can't tell us) or the movement of tectonic plates and how they all get sort of squashed up and as this particular plate had all the magma under it so presumably all the other plates don't, well thats alright then.

Keep 'em coming Dave, the voice of reason in a world gone mad.