Major earthquake strikes off Indonesia

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Major earthquake strikes off Indonesia
25 October 2010

A major earthquake has struck off the coast of western Sumatra, Indonesian officials say.



The 7.5 magnitude quake near the Mentawi Islands at a depth of 14km (8 miles) triggered a tsunami watch, but officials later gave the all clear.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake struck at 2142 (1642 GMT) and was felt in towns in Bengkulu and west Sumatra provinces.

There have so far been no reports of damage or casualties.

Initial reports put the depth of the quake at 33km (20.5 miles), but this was later revised by the US Geological Survey.

The shallow depth of the earthquake prompted the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a "watch" bulletin.

"There was shaking that went on for about three seconds or so," Indonesian disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told AFP news agency.

"Residents panicked and ran to the hills but now they are starting to come down. There is no report of casualties or damage."

Indonesia is regularly affected by earthquakes.

More than 1,000 people were killed by an earthquake off Sumatra in September 2009.

In June at least three powerful earthquakes struck the region, bringing down homes and leaving three people dead.

In December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off the coast of Aceh triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed a quarter of a million people in 13 countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", one of the world's most active areas for earthquakes and volcanoes.

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At least 160 missing after tsunami hits Indonesia
Oct 26, 2010

(Reuters) - At least 160 people, mostly women and children, are missing from an Indonesian village that was pounded by an enormous wave after an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra caused a local tsunami, officials said on Tuesday.

The 7.5 magnitude quake hit 78 km west of South Pagai in the Mentawai islands late on Monday and destroyed most buildings in the coastal village of Betu Monga, said Hardimansyah, an official with the regional branch of the Department of Fisheries.

"Of the 200 people living in that village, only 40 have been found. 160 are still missing, mostly women and children," he told Reuters by phone.

"We have people reporting to the security post here that they could not hold onto their children, that they were swept away. A lot of people are crying."

Hardimansyah, who has only one name, said in the nearby village of Malakopa, at least one person was confirmed dead and two others missing. He said 80 percent of the houses in the area were damaged and food supplies were low.

Local police were searching for missing people and setting up emergency posts, said Ronald, a police officer at Sikakap district police station.

"We are predicting that people will need food supplies and shelter. The rain is coming down very hard, the wind is very strong," he said.

Mudjiarto, the head of the disaster response unit at the Health Ministry, told Reuters that two bodies had been found near Sipora island and that several people were still missing.

In South Pagai island, waves penetrated about 600 metres into coastal villages, while in North Pagai island, waves reached to the roof of local houses, he said.

A tourist boat carrying between eight and 10 Australians has been out of radio contact since the quake occurred, according to a statement issued by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said in an email on Monday that a significant tsunami was created by the quake.

In December 2004, a tsunami caused by an earthquake of more than 9 magnitude off Sumatra killed more than 226,000 people. It was the deadliest tsunami on record.

everlastinglove_MJ

Thank you for this thread. This news needs attention too, at least.

Today I read in the news that the amount of deaths is 272 and it is still increasing, 412 people are missing. It's very tragic, not only of the deaths and missing but think about the agonizing fear the people would have felt after the quake. Hope this catastrophe ends soon. My heart is with them right now.

L.O.V.E.

TheRunningGirl

The Earth is definitely unhappy at the moment and poor Indonesia, in addition to the recent Earthquake, is now also an an heightened volcano alert.

Indonesia volcano erupts anew; 21 more rumble
Mt. Merapi's powerful explosion accompanied by deafening blasts

By SLAMET RIYADI
updated 11/1/2010 10:36:55 AM ET

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia — Evacuees cringed and fled for cover Monday as an erupting volcano — one of 22 showing increased activity in Indonesia — let loose booming explosions of hot gas and debris in its most powerful blast in a deadly week. No new casualties were reported.
The new blast from Mount Merapi came as Indonesia also struggles to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The twin disasters, unfolding simultaneously on opposite ends of the seismically volatile country, have killed nearly 500 people and severely tested the government's emergency response network. In both events, the military has been called in to help.
One of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Merapi has killed 38 since it started erupting a week ago.

Local residents leave a danger zone as the Merapi volcano releases ash clouds in Balerante village, Indonesia, on Monday.

Even in the crowded government camps miles away, people still instinctively ran for shelter at the power of Monday's eruption, which was accompanied by several deafening explosions, said Subrandrio, an official in charge of monitoring Merapi's activity. About 69,000 people villagers have been evacuated from the area around its once-fertile slopes — now blanketed by gray ash — in central Java, 250 miles east of Jakarta, the capital.
As massive clouds spilled from the glowing cauldron and billowed into the air — continuing for nearly three hours after the blast — debris and ash cascaded nearly four miles down the southeastern slopes, Subrandrio said.

Deadly eruptions
Merapi has erupted many times in the last two centuries, often with deadly results. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930, more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1,300 dead.
More than 800 miles to the west, meanwhile, a C-130 transport plane, six helicopters and four motorized boats were ferrying aid to the most distant corners of the Mentawai Islands, where last week's tsunami destroyed hundreds of homes, schools, churches and mosques.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said relief efforts must be sped up, expressing dismay it took days for aid to reach the isolated islands, though he acknowledged that violent storms have previously prevented most planes, helicopters and boats from operating.
The tsunami death toll had reached 450 by Monday, said Nelis Zuliastri from the National Disaster Management Agency, with the number of missing now less than 100.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, straddles a series of fault lines and volcanoes known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire."
The fault line that caused last week's 7.7-magnitude earthquake and killer wave that followed — and also the 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries — is the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates that have been pushing against and under each other for millions of years, causing huge stresses to build up. It runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra island.
Both earthquakes and volcanos can be related to movements in the overlapping plates that form the earth's crust. As plates slide against or under each other, molten rock from the layer of mantle can break the surface via a volcano, or create energy released in an earthquake.

Heightened volcano alerts
The government has raised alert levels of 21 other volcanoes to the second- and third- highest levels in the last two months because they have shown an increase in activity, said Syamsul Rizal, a state volcanologist, said monday. Many of those are already rumbling and belching out heavy black ash.
Indonesia has several volcanos smoldering at any given time, but another government volcanologist Gede Swantika said there are normally only five to 10 on the third-highest alert level, indicating an increase in seismic activity and visible changes in the crater, and none at the second-highest, signifying an eruption is possible within two weeks. He said monitors noticed more volcanos were exhibiting seismic activity starting Sept. 2.
"We can say this is quite extraordinary, about 20 at the same time," Swantika said. "We have to keep an eye on those mountains. ... But I cannot say or predict which will erupt. What we can do is monitor patterns."
Geologist Brent McInnes said as he hadn't seen the raw data but would find such a rash of volcanic activity significant.
"If it's true that there are over 20 volcanos demonstrating increased levels of seismic activity, then that is something we should pay attention to," said McInnes, a professor at Australia's Curtin University who has done extensive volcanic research in Indonesia.
He said such an increase could indicate "maybe there is a major plate restructuring going on, and that would be significant."
Two of the closely watched volcanos — Karangetang and Ibu — are at the second-highest alert level. Karanetang erupted in August, killing four people, and both mountains are now shooting out ash daily, local monitors said. The two mountains lie within a few hundred miles of each other more than 1,400 miles northeast of Jakarta.
Anak Krakatua, a volcano known as the "Child of Krakatoa" also started shooting lava last week. Although the firebursts look spectacular, there were no immediate signs of major eruption, said Anton Tripambudi, a government seismologist.
The mountain, about 80 miles west of Jakarta, was formed after the Krakatoa eruption of 1883, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history that, along with a tsunami, killed at least 36,417 people.

With L.O.V.E