Thread: Earthquake: Magnitude 8.9 - off the west coast of Northern Sumatra

Only small, but never heard of one here before.

Earthquake in Arabian Sea
Apr 11, 2012 | PTI | Mumbai


An earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale was recorded in the Arabia Sea, 155 km away from Mumbai, the Met office here said.
"The shock registered was at 18.6 degree latitude and 71.3 degree longitude in the Arabian Sea," Met department director Rajeev Nair told agencies.
The epicentre was 155 km from Mumbai, he said adding that the quake took place at 12.31 pm. Meanwhile, there were reports of tremors being felt in some parts of north Mumbai, but the Met dept said these could not be verified so far.

Thailand travel advice

From the FCO: On 11 April an 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. A tsunami watch has been issued across the Indian Ocean region. You should monitor media reports and follow advice of the local authorities. British nationals in the region are advised to call home to let family know they are safe

They're hinting it isn't the right sort of quake. Hopefully they're right.

Large Aceh quake triggers Indian Ocean tsunami warning
13 minutes ago
An earthquake with an magnitude of 8.7 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 (PTWC) 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 (USGS), which documents quakes worldwide, said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

It was initially reported as 8.9 magnitude but was later revised down to 8.7 by the USGS. Strong aftershocks were also reported.

The PTWC 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".

But Bruce Presgrave of the USGS later told the BBC that the nature of this quake made it less likely a tsunami would be generated, as the earth had moved horizontally, rather than vertically, therefore had not displaced large volumes of water.

"We can't rule out the possibility, but horizontal motion is less likely to produce a destructive tsunami," he said.

Sutopo, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, said the quake had been felt "very strongly".

"Electricity is down, there's traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," he told Reuters.

The tremor was felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand and India.

The Thai office of disaster management said people along the coasts of Phuket, Phang Na and Andaman province should heed warnings and evacuate.


Tsunami warning sirens, set up in many vulnerable areas after the 2004 disaster, were heard in Phuket, where correspondents said people were calmly following evacution routes to safe zones.

Reuters quoted Indonesian officials as saying there had been no immediate reports of damage of rising water levels in Aceh.

Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of major seismic activity.

The BBC's Karishma Vaswani in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, says there were reports of the ground shaking for up to five minutes. Contact with people in the immediate area around the quake has not been possible so far, says our correspondent.

Honestly,

Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere

Fucking retards.

It has to be a shallow earthquake for a big tsunami i always thought and this one is deep so no need to worry.

Watching CNN, the scariest part is looking at the faces of the people of Banda Aceh live. Seems there is some good news. No outflow of water from any of west Sumatra's coastal areas, and the time has passed when a first wave would have hit.

The kids phones are going crazy with messages from friends who went to Phuket for the Songkran break. It seems there is some panic there.

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Bob

Thailand travel advice

From the FCO: On 11 April an 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. A tsunami watch has been issued across the Indian Ocean region. You should monitor media reports and follow advice of the local authorities. British nationals in the region are advised to call home to let family know they are safe

Yes, you are advised to make pointless calls home and jam the fucking phone network so that people can't call to advise their friends and family in situ that they need to move to higher ground.

Jesus, how fucking thick are these people?

Originally Posted by buriramboy

It has to be a shallow earthquake for a big tsunami i always thought and this one is deep so no need to worry.

No, it's about water displacement.

The tsunami is increased in height when it hits shallow waters.

That's probably where you're getting confused.

It's also about wave direction - many Phuket beaches suffered nary a small swell in 2004.

It is a slip strike fault rather than a thrust fault, still capable of generating a smalll wave.
you have more chance of getting after shocks ...and or quakes on nearby faults...2-3 faults near Phuket.

Surf's up

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by buriramboy

It has to be a shallow earthquake for a big tsunami i always thought and this one is deep so no need to worry.

No, it's about water displacement.

The tsunami is increased in height when it hits shallow waters.

That's probably where you're getting confused.

It's also about wave direction - many Phuket beaches suffered nary a small swell in 2004.

I'm not confused at all Harry all large tsunami have been from shallow earthquakes, go have a read up son.

The first Tsumani waves are expected on Sumatra coast by 1121 CET

Which is in the next five minutes or so.

All mobile phones blocked in Phuket. TV reports Tsunami due in Phuket at 18:15. siren's go off in Patong. People told to move to higher ground.