Moderate Earthquake Near Sumatra Today July 5

[NBT TV Phuket]

Magnitude 6.7 - NIAS REGION, INDONESIA 2005 July 5 01:52:04 UTC Preliminary Earthquake Report U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A strong earthquake occurred at 01:52:04 (UTC) on Tuesday, July 5, 2005. The magnitude 6.7 event has been located in the NIAS REGION, INDONESIA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude 6.7 Date-Time Tuesday, July 5, 2005 at 01:52:04 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Tuesday, July 5, 2005 at 8:52:04 AM = local time at epicenter

Location 1.901°N, 97.099°E Depth 30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program Region NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

Distances 190 km (120 miles) W of Sibolga, Sumatra, Indonesia 255 km (155 miles) SW of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia 530 km (330 miles) WSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia 1395 km (860 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

(FROM )http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usadab.htm) C/O TV11 Phuket

[womble]

Worldwide so far this year there have been 10 other quakes equal or bigger in size to this one. It's not really worth reporting, and is damaging to Thailands economy to report this, it's a noteworthy earthquake, but not a newsworthy earthquake.

[george]

Quake hits Indonesia's Sumatra

A strong earthquake has struck Indonesia's Sumatra island but there are no immediate reports of casualties or damage, according to Indonesian authorities.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.7 on the Richter scale.

The quake hit at 8:52am local time, with the epicentre in the Nias region west of the Sumatra mainland.

"At this point, we don't have any damage reported," said Fauzi, the head of North Sumatra's Geological and Meteorology Agency.

He added that there were no initial reports of any deaths or injuries.

-- Reuters 2005-07-05 at 10:56 BKK time

[george]

Indonesian Earthquake Triggers Local Tsunami Warning (Update2)

A 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island at 8:52 a.m. local time, which may trigger a tsunami that could affect some areas in the region, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The earthquake struck near the island of Simeulue off the coast of Aceh province in Sumatra, the center said. The U.S. Geological Survey revised the magnitude from 6.8 and said the epicenter was about 30 kilometers (18.9 miles) below the sea floor and 190 kilometers west of Sibolga in Sumatra.

``Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a few hundred kilometers,'' the center said in an e-mail alert sent to Bloomberg.

Sumatra has been struck by thousands of aftershocks since the magnitude-9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26. The disaster, the world's worst in 40 years, left more than 220,000 people dead or missing. Two hours after the latest quake officials said no tsunami had been generated.

``There's been no tsunami and we haven't received reports of any damage,'' Budi Waluyo, an official in the Meteorology and Geophysics office said in Jakarta. ``We heard that people felt the earthquake and said it was quite strong.''

The earthquake struck about 530 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur and 1,400 kilometers from Jakarta. Indonesia is on the Pacific Rim's ``Ring of Fire,'' a zone of active volcanoes and earthquakes.

``Tremors may be felt in the West coast Peninsular Malaysia, the Malaysian Meteorological Service said on its Web site. ``No tsumani is expected.''

Officials in Sri Lanka, one of the countries worst-affected from the Dec. 26 tsunami, said they are monitoring the situation. Sri Lanka is about 3,000 kilometers from Sumatra.

``We have not issued a tsunami alert because we are too far away to be affected by today's earthquake,'' said M.M.P. Mendis, a duty officer in Sri Lanka's weather office in a phone interview from Colombo. ``There is a local tsunami alert in Indonesia but we won't announce one and we are keeping an eye on the situation.''

--Bloomberg 2005-07-05 11:29 BKK time

[george]

Quake hits Indonesia's Sumatra; no casualty reports

JAKARTA: -- A strong earthquake struck Indonesia's Sumatra and islands near it on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, authorities said.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.7, while Indonesian officials put it at 6.0 on the Richter scale.

The quake hit at 8:52 a.m. (0152 GMT) with the epicentre at a depth of 30km (18.6 miles) in the sea near Nias island, west of the Sumatra mainland.

"At this point, we don't have any damage reported," Fauzi, the head of North Sumatra's Geological and Meteorology Agency, told Reuters, adding that there were also no initial reports of deaths or injuries.

However, El Shinta news radio said the quake caused fresh damage to Gunungsitoli town on Nias. That island and others near it were hit by a more powerful earthquake last March which killed around 1,000 people and damaged tens of thousands of buildings and houses.

The Indian Ocean quake and ensuing tsunami of December 26 had also affected Nias.

Some frightened Gunungsitoli residents rushed to higher ground after Tuesday's quake but there were no reports of casualties, El Shinta added.

--Reuters 2005-06-05 11:28 BKK time

[george]

Edited the initial topic title to:

Moderate Earthquake Near Sumatra Today July 5

No immediate casualty reports

/Admin

BKK time 11:41

[george]

No danger from morning tremor

PHUKET CITY: -- An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, centered in the sea off the west coast of Sumatra this morning, posed little danger to Phuket, where its shock waves passed largely unnoticed.

The US Geological Survey website put the epicenter at 1.901°N, 97.099°E, about 120 kilometers west of the Sumatran coast, and at a depth of 30 kilometers.

Chamnong Chitpukdee, the new head of Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) in Phuket, told the Gazette that the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 8:52 am, was about 700 kilometers from Phuket. His office received a report that the magnitude of the quake was slightly higher, at 6.8.

“A 6.8-magnitude quake is regarded as only moderately dangerous. I don’t think there was any danger of a tsunami resulting from this earthquake, and we have received no reports of tsunami w aves anywhere in the region,” he said.

Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal said Patong Municipality had received a telephone call about the earthquake from the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster Warning Center. No evacuation orders needed to be issued, however, because the 6.8 magnitude fell below the 7.5-magnitude threshold considered necessary to produce a tsunami, he said.

“If it is not 7.5 Richter or greater, we don’t need to do anything. In the past, there were frequent tremors in Phuket, but nobody really followed up on them. But since the tsunami, the government has ordered its agencies to get any information about unusual seismic activity out to local authorities. That’s why we were informed,” he said.

Boonchai Somjai, head of the Phuket Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, confirmed that his office was always prepared to deal with emergency situations. His office also uses a 7.5-magnitude event as its threshold for issuing warnings.

A much larger 8.7-magnitude quake centered off the west coast of Sumatra caused widespread panic of an impending tsunami when it hit late in the evening of March 28, but it too failed to produce any appreciable wave action.

Because the Richter scale is logarithmic, with a 6.7 magnitude quake being 10 times weaker than a 7.7 magnitude event, this morning’s event was about 100 times smaller than the March 28 earthquake – and much smaller still than the earthquake that caused the December 26 tsunami.

--Phuket Gazette 2005-06-05