Strong Quake Hits Off Indonesia Island

[Kooperman]

Strong Quake Hits Off Indonesia Island

Mar 28, 12:19 PM (ET)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A large earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra Island in the Andaman Sea late Monday, and the U.S. Geological Survey said it was a major quake measuring a magnitude of 8.2.

Thai officials issued a warning of a possible tsunami, three months after a tsunami devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries in the region. The quake occurred at 11:09 p.m. local at a depth of nearly 19 miles, the USGS in Golden, Colo., said.

Japan's Meteorological Agency measured the quake at magnitude 8.5.

Tremors were felt throughout peninsular Malaysia's west coast, causing thousands of residents to flee high-rise apartment buildings and hotels. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage.

"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."

Chalermchai Aekkantrong, deputy director of Thailand's meteorological department, told a radio station that officials were asking people near the coast to evacuate, although there were no immediate reports of a tsunami.

Tremors form the quake could be felt in the Thai capital Bangkok for several minutes beginning at about 11:20 p.m.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...esia_earthquake

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050328/D8943P781.html

[Kooperman]

Dozens Reported Dead in Indonesia After Quake

Mar 28, 2:03 PM (ET)

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A massive earthquake killed dozens of people and destroyed hundreds of homes in the main town on Indonesia's Nias island Monday evening, a local government official told Metro TV.

"I can guarantee that dozens have died," Agus Mendrofa, the deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli town, said.

The massive 8.2 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Sumatra Monday close to where a quake triggered a tsunami that left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across Asia, residents and officials said.

The latest 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, the Pacific tsunami warning center said.

One official said any possible tsunami could be headed toward the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Indonesia's Metro TV quoted a resident on the island of Nias, off western Sumatra, as saying buildings there were damaged.

"Things are quite bad right now," the resident said. "There is much damage. People are running in panic. Many people are also trapped."

He did not elaborate on what he meant by people were "trapped."

Tens of thousands of people across northern and western Sumatra fled their homes and drove or ran to higher ground, TV and residents said.

Thailand urged people living along parts of its west coast, including tourists on the resort island of Phuket, to evacuate 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.

"We've told them to take their valuable belongings and to go to higher places," he added.

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 were ringing in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Trincomalee and many coastal areas were evacuated, residents said.

NO REPORTS OF TSUNAMI

Indonesia's information minister said there were no reports of a tsunami along the coast.

"There is no report of any damage," the Andaman and Nicobar islands' Lieutenant-Governor Ram Kapse told Reuters by telephone. "We have issued an initial warning. If there is any problem, we will evacuate."

A spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey told Reuters the quake struck 125 miles west northwest of Sibolga, Sumatra or 880 miles northwest of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta at 1609 GMT, close to where the 9.0 magnitude quake struck in December.

It was felt as far away as Singapore and the Malaysian coastal city of Penang, jolting people out of their beds just past midnight.

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

A telephone operator in the Sumatran city of Medan said: "It was very strong. We all ran out of the building."

An NGO official in Banda Aceh, the town worst hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami, sent out a telephone message saying thousands of people fled their homes and headed for higher ground after feeling what he described as "a very damn big earthquake."

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 temblor but was a "very serious earthquake in its own right."

But the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake had the "potential to generate a widely destructive tsunami in the ocean or seas near the earthquake."

"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," it added.

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050328/...KE-ASIA-DC.html

[Shawn]

No end to the fun those guys can have just by living where they do.

[method77]

There is no God. No.

[Kooperman]

This quake is now upgraded to an 8.7

[KiwiCoromandel]

Several killed by quake but no tsunami yet

29 March 2005

UPDATED REPORT - 8.30am

JAKARTA: A massive 8.7 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's Sumatra island this morning and killed perhaps dozens of people, but there were no immediate reports of a tsunami, residents and officials said.

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

Monday's late night earthquake spread panic across western Indonesia, Sri Lanka and coastal parts of Malaysia and Thailand, the areas devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Sirens wailed and tens of thousands of people were evacuated after tsunami warnings while others drove or ran from the coast to higher ground.

There were no signs of a tsunami up to three and a half hours after the 4.09am (NZT) quake, but it killed dozens of people and destroyed hundreds of homes in Gunungsitoli, the main town on Indonesia's Nias island, a local official told Metro TV.

"I can guarantee that dozens have died," Agus Mendrofa, the deputy mayor of the town, said by telephone.

"Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is in extreme panic."

A senior police officer told Reuters he had seen three dead bodies and that many others were trapped in damaged buildings.

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

Nias, off the western coast of Sumatra and about 1400km north-west of Jakarta, is a remote and rugged island famed as a surfing paradise.

The Pacific tsunami warning centre said the quake had the potential to cause a "widely destructive tsunami" and authorities should take "immediate action," including evacuating coastlines within 1000km of the epicentre.

Read more........

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3230887a10,00.html

[Redneck4sure]

Very odd. It has been several hours now and neither Dude, Koop or SG has posted some off the wall conspiracy theory about the Republicans being involved.

[Kooperman]

Indonesian VP: Quake May Kill Up to 2,000

By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's west coast late Monday, killing hundreds of people whose homes collapsed on them and spreading panic across the Indian Ocean that another killer tsunami was on the way. Indonesia's vice president predicted up to 2,000 deaths.

But fears of a second tsunami catastrophe in just over three months eased within hours, as officials in countries at risk reported their coasts clear of the type of quake-spawned waves that ravaged a dozen countries in Asia and Africa on Dec. 26.

Almost all the deaths reported in the hours immediately after Monday's quake were on Indonesia's Nias island, off Sumatra's west coast, which was close to the epicenter.

"It is predicted — and it's still a rough estimate — that the number the victim of dead may be between 1,000 and 2,000, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the el-Shinta radio station. He said the estimate was based on an assessment of damage to buildings, not bodies counted.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...esia_earthquake

[DudeAsInCool]

Very odd. It has been several hours now and neither Dude, Koop or SG has posted some off the wall conspiracy theory about the Republicans being involved.

Wasnt Condi recently in the area?

[Kooperman]

Very odd. It has been several hours now and neither Dude, Koop or SG has posted some off the wall conspiracy theory about the Republicans being involved.

I've been out to baseball practice this evening, but I can pass on that there is a long repulsive trail of Republican shit flies which is following along behind Dick Cheney's ass as he traveled through Louisville today....thankfully he's taken his blowfly brigade into Indiana now....

[Redneck4sure]

....thankfully he's taken his blowfly brigade into Indiana now....

And the average IQ in kentucky dropped 12 points.

[Kooperman]

And the average IQ in kentucky dropped 12 points.

Kentucky is a Republican state...the I.Q is nearly in the negative zone now....at least for about 60% of the population.

[Redneck4sure]

Kentucky is a Republican state...

How does it feel to be the one holding the state of Kentucky back? All those politically correct people are wondering what is wrong with you.

[Kooperman]

How does it feel to be the one holding the state of Kentucky back? All those politically correct people are wondering what is wrong with you.

Nobody has ever expressed that opinion....but it's hard for them to talk with their head buried up their butt in the Bush Zone.....

[Redneck4sure]

Nobody has ever expressed that opinion....but it's hard for them to talk with their head buried up their butt in the Bush Zone.....

I can't hear you either.

[Kooperman]

I can't hear you either.

Withdraw your ears from that Bush Zone and read my lips....no new Texas....

[Redneck4sure]

We don't want a new Texas. We like the old one just fine. It would be nice if we could keep the furriners out. Some of them come from as far away as Oklahoma. :)

[slum_goddess]

There is no God. No.

nuh-uh. not w/what's going on over there or across the sea here.

Very odd.  It has been several hours now and neither Dude, Koop or SG has posted some off the wall conspiracy theory about the Republicans being involved.

i'm working on it. :)

[KiwiCoromandel]

Indonesia quake result of more stress -Witness says ocean surged 30 metres

Indonesia quake death toll in hundreds

Mar 29, 2005

A massive undersea earthquake that killed hundreds in Indonesia overnight was a result of increased geological stress caused by the December 26 quake that sent a devastating tsunami across Asia, seismologists said.

And they warned they expected a third earthquake in the area.

Like the 2004 tremor, the 8.7 magnitude quake off the Indonesian island of Nias was a vertical earthquake where part of the ocean floor was thrust upwards due to another part of the earth's plate pushing beneath it.

"It appears to be the same plate boundary where the Australian plate is slipping beneath the Sumatran (Sunda) plate," Geoscience Australia seismologist Phil Cummins told Reuters.

Seismologists had warned of a second earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island due to increased geological stress caused by the December quake.

The official death toll on Nias was 322 dead on Tuesday but Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said between 1,000 and 2,000 people may have been killed on the island.

The latest earthquake was centred 160 km southeast of the 9.0 magnitude December 26 quake off the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Geoscience Australia said the earlier quake was two to four times larger than the latest one.

More to come

Cummins said a third earthquake was to be expected because geological stress levels would rise further following Monday's quake.

"There is a chance that the next segment further to the southeast could rupture sooner than we expected," he said.

Read more.........

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_sto...9%3fformat=html