I knew I was missing something. They said my girlfriend was an 8.2 and then started laughing. Somes son of a biotches are in trouble.
From the reports I've read (on yahoo and cnn.com), they said it was an aftershock of the December 26th earthquake, and that it was smaller. I'd think that all aftershocks would be smaller than the originals, but their numbers keep rising..All I can say is that hopefully they won't be calling the December 26th earthquake a early "warning quake" when this is all said and done with.
at least the warnings are out. Link Indonesia Earthquake Damages Buildings 18 minutes ago World - AP Asia By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - A major earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island late Monday, damaging hundreds of buildings and sending residents fleeing in panic. Officials issued a tsunami warning for as far away as Sri Lanka. AP Photo AP Photo Slideshow: Asian Tsunami Disaster Latest Headlines: · Panic Sweeps Indonesia After Earthquake AP - 3 minutes ago · Indonesia Earthquake Damages Buildings AP - 18 minutes ago · Dozens Reported Dead in Indonesia After Quake Reuters - 36 minutes ago Special Coverage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RSS: The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor, which occurred at 11:09 p.m. local time (11:09 a.m. EST), measured a magnitude of 8.2. A later reading put the magnitude at 8.7, said Paul Earle, a USGS research geophysicist. Hundreds of buildings were badly damaged on Nias island, off the Sumatran coast, close to the epicenter of the earthquake. Dozens of people may be buried in the rubble, said Agus Mendrofa, deputy district head on the island. "Hundreds of buildings have been damaged or have collapsed. People who were standing fell over," Mendrofa said. "We're not sure about casualties, but there may be dozens of people buried in the rubble." Nias, a renowned surfing spot, was badly hit by the Dec. 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that killed at least 175,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean nations. At least 340 residents of Nias perished and 10,000 were left homeless. Indonesian officials said the quake's epicenter was 56 miles south of the island of Simeulu, off of Sumatra's western coast, and just north of Nias. It was described by one of the agency's geologists as an aftershock of the devastating Dec. 26 quake. In Banda Aceh, the Sumatran city that was hit hardest by December's tsunami, the quake cut electricity and thousands poured into the streets, most getting into vehicles to flee low-lying areas. Tsunami warnings were issued in Thailand, Japan and Sri Lanka. Authorities said it could take several hours to know whether the quake had generated a devastating tsunami. The West Coast-Alaska tsunami warning center said that if no tsunami waves are observed in the region near the epicenter within three hours, then it is likely that the danger has passed. "It seems this earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. If it had, the tsunami would have hit the coastline of Sumatra by now," said Prihar Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesia Geophysics Agency. "And if there's no tsunami on the coastline near the epicenter of the quake, there will not be one heading in the other direction." The energy from the quake was generated in a southerly direction, said Eddie Bernard, a tsunami expert and director of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, in an interview with CNN. That direction is away from area struck on Dec. 26. Sirens blared along Sri Lanka's devastated east coast as the government warned seaside residents to evacuate immediately. "The government has ordered coastal areas to move to higher ground. We are giving priorities to eastern coast," said Brig. Daya Ratnayake, the military spokesman. Low-lying coastal areas in Malaysia's northern states also were being evacuated. In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said U.S. diplomatic missions in Asia and Africa are in "battle mode" so that they can respond quickly to any contingency. He said embassy officials in the area have been asking host governments to inquire about any causalities to permit an early U.S. response if the situation calls for it. The International Red Cross in Geneva said all their mobile phone systems were down so they haven't been able to talk to anyone on the ground in Indonesia. At the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which was at the center of U.N. response to the Dec. 26 tsunami, Jamie McGoldrick said, "What's going on is a mobilization of people away from the coast." But noted that the quake was "a weaker one than before (Dec. 26)." "There have been no reports of a tsunami and no initial reports of damage, but it's very early," said Rob Holden, a Geneva-based technical coordinator for the World Health Organization. "Police are now going around trying to calm people down." Oceanographer David Burwell of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said the agency was watching water levels "but we don't have any gauges in that area." He said it would be a few hours before officials received any readings. The quake lasted about two minutes and felt like gentle swaying, like a rocking chair, causing people to feel dizzy and briefly knocking the electricity out in Banda Aceh. It woke people up and sent them running into the street. People grabbed small bags of clothes — in many cases likely all the belongings they had left after the disaster — as they fled their tents and homes. Many were crying and jumping into cars and onto motorbikes and pedicabs, saying they were heading for higher ground. Two women wearing prayer shawls and sarongs grasped a fence and chanted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great." "People are still traumatized, still scared, they are running for higher ground," said Feri, a 24-year-old recovery volunteer who goes by one name. "It was felt in most of the cities in Sumatra," said Budi Waluyo, an agency official. Indonesia's state news agency, Antara, said there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake was felt as far away as Malaysia, about 300 miles from the epicenter, sending panicked residents fleeing their apartments and hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Penang after authorities activated fire alarms. Officials issued a tsunami warning for residents of southern Thai provinces, three months after a tsunami devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries in the region. The quake occurred at a depth of 18.6 miles, and was centered 125 west-northwest of Sibolga, Sumatra, and 150 miles southwest of Medan, Sumatra, the USGS said. The depth does not mean a lot for a quake this large, Earle said, calling it a near-surface earthquake and comparable to the one that occurred Dec. 26. After the Dec. 26 quake, the agency initially recorded the depth of that temblor at six miles. Shallow earthquakes like that generally are more destructive because the seismic energy is closer to the surface and has less distance to travel. Monday's quake was considered to be at a moderate depth. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the quake registered 8.5. Tremors also 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." Police were evacuating many residents from low-lying coastal areas in Malaysia's northern states of Penang and Kedah as a precaution, said Penang Police Chief Christopher Wan. "We are on the alert for the possibility of a tsunami within the next few hours," Wan said by telephone. "We're better prepared now compared to last year." Sixty-eight Malaysians were killed when the Dec. 26 tsunami hit Penang and Kedah. Greg Romano, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates the Pacific Tsunami Warning system, said the U.S. State Department was passing on warnings to foreign governments about the tsunami danger. The USGS said the quake occurred on a segment of the same fault line that triggered the magnitude-9 earthquake on Dec. 26, the world's biggest in 40 years. Dale Grant of U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was magnitude 8.2 and was in the aftershock zone of the Dec. 26 quake. "It is along the same segment of fault," he said. "We do expect aftershocks. An 8.2 is very large, but it's not unusual as an aftershock." He stressed they have no reports at this time of any tsunami. The Dec. 26 quake triggered the huge tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a passenger jet killed more than 174,000 people and left another 106,000 missing. More than 1.5 million people were left homeless in 11 countries.. Tremors form the quake could be felt in the Thai capital Bangkok for several minutes beginning at about 11:20 p.m. Chalermchai Aekkantrong, deputy director of Thailand's meteorological department, told a radio station Monday that officials were asking people near the coast to evacuate, although there were no immediate reports of a tsunami.
I've heard from people in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand and so far it looks like things are OK with no tsunami but there have been mass evacuations. Given what happened last time I think its better to be safe than sorry and evacuate.
Not a geologist, but I heard the way the fault disperses energy determines if their is a tsunami and which direction it moves.
'They' think from what we know at this point that an earthquake can't be any larger than the high 9's (I forget what the final number was 9.6, 9.7, 9.8..?) the largest ever recorded was 9.5 in Chile (1960). ____ The final magnitude of the Indonesian earthquake was 9.3
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/29/earthquake/ Recorded at 8.7 by the U.S. Geological Survey and 8.5 by Japan's Meteorologic Agency, with an epicenter further south than the Dec. 26 earthquake, seismologists warned the latest earthquake had the potential to create another destructive tsunami at the end of a week of at least seven smaller aftershocks in the region.
the largest ever recorded was 9.5 in Chile (1960). Here is the old #2 http://www.ce.washington.edu/~liquefaction/html/quakes/alaska/alaska.html On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, a great earthquake of magnitude 9.2 struck Prince William Sound and Turnagain Heights Lanslide, Alaska, and caused severe damage in the form of landslides and liquefaction as seen in the pictures. This seismic event is not only the second largest ever to have been recorded but it lasted for over 3 minutes
I felt the tremor from my 11th-floor flat. I was at home having Scotch and thought I was a bit drunk. It's not until morning that I learned about the earthquake from my colleague.
This happened in Valdez, Alaska, where I lived in 1984. The city was so thoroughly destroyed, that they moved the city's location 7 miles and rebuilt it. The remains of the old city now just lie there like a graveyard. At least it was that way in 85. Really wild. If someone can find pictures, post them.
