Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA

USGS Earthquake Hazards ^ | 2004 December 26 00:58:55 UTC

[bd476]

Magnitude 8.1 - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
2004 December 26 00:58:55 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report
West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS

A great earthquake occurred at 00:58:55 (UTC) on Sunday, December 26, 2004. The magnitude 8.1 event has been located OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude	8.1
Date-Time	Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 00:58:55 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 6:58:55 AM = local time at epicenter
Location	3.400°N, 95.700°E
Depth	40 km (24.9 miles) set by location program
Region	OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
Distances	235 km (145 miles) S of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia 330 km (205 miles) W of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia 1620 km (1000 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia 3405 km (2120 miles) SE of NEW DELHI, Delhi, India
Location Uncertainty	Error estimate not available
Parameters	Nst=020, Nph=020, Dmin=>999 km, Rmss=0.98 sec, Gp=101°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=1
Source	West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS
Event ID	at00000264

Location Maps: 10-degree NEIC Maps Did you feel it? Report shaking and damage at your location. You can also view a map displaying accumulated data from your report and others. Historical Moment Tensor Solutions Seismic Hazard Map Historical Seismicity Theoretical P-Wave Travel Times Magnitude 7 and Greater Earthquakes This Year TsunamiBulletin Archive of newsworthy events

[mewzilla]

How long after the earthquake did it take the tsunamis to hit?

[E Rocc]

and if people died in that church its ok becasue they pray to a God other than yours? What a wonderful example of twisted Christianity....

I had a feeling we'd eventually see stuff like that on here.

P.J. O'Rourke recently commented that people who know some actual individual Muslims don't have a problem understanding how Islam can be a decent religion even though Islamist terrorists are evil. The opinions of the people I know who have been to Iraq or otherwise know Muslims as people (including President Bush) seem to support this view.

-Eric

[bd476]

ReliefWeb
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 26 Dec 2004

"Tidal waves kill at least 29 in Malaysia"
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 (AFP) - "At least 29 people were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves sparked by a huge earthquake in Indonesia hit two Malaysian resort islands and a series of coastal villages Sunday, officials said.

The worst-hit island was the popular northwestern holiday resort of Penang, where 21 people -- including at least two foreigners -- were killed and up to 30 fishing boats were missing, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and local officials said.

Further north, along the Kuala Muda coast of Kedah state bordering Thailand, seven people died when a tsunami roared through several villages, Najib told a news conference.

A police spokesman said a wave of four to six metres (12 to 18 feet) high destroyed about 1,000 houses and affected about 5,000 people, the official Bernama news agency reported.

Najib described the tidal waves as "a disaster never seen before in Malaysia's history."

He said he had ordered evacuations from high risk areas as a precautionary measure and would visit the affected areas on Monday.

Najib said he had heard unconfirmed "graphic reports" of jet ski riders being hurled into coffee houses by the tidal wave in Penang.

On the resort island of Langkawi off the Kedah coast, a 70-year-old man confined to a wheelchair drowned in his home when it flooded and he could not escape, district police chief Abdul Halim Abdullah told AFP.

The areas hit by the tidal waves are in northwestern Malaysia, separated by the Malacca Strait from Indonesia's Sumatra island where the quake hit early Sunday.

At least eight of the Penang deaths occurred at the popular Batu Ferringhi beach, which is lined by upscale tourist hotels, Penang Civil Defence Director Mohamad Johari Mohamad Taufik told AFP. Two of the dead were foreigners, Mohamad Johari said, without giving their nationalities.

Eight Malaysians living in a fishing village near Balik Pulau on the island also drowned, he said.

"Many more are still missing. Up to 30 fishing boats are at sea, with no communication. We are conducting search and rescue operations but we are expecting aftershocks from the earthquake to hit us again later this evening," he said." End excerpt. Link to rest of the story follows. Tidal waves kill at least 29 in Malaysia

[mewzilla]

Thanks. These folks are in our prayers.

[bd476]

Mewzilla, I have found no mention of the time any of the tsunamis hit after the quake.

It is also difficult to predict tsunamis after a very large quake.

[mewzilla]

Then shouldn't evacuations be started anyway? Since about all you can do is try to get out of the way? This is so awful.

[bd476]

NEIC and USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

Magnitude 8 and Greater Earthquakes Since 1990

Earthquakes Magnitude 8.0 and Greater Since 1990

	Year	Month	Day	Time UTC	Latitude	Longitude	Depth (km)	Magnitude	Region
1	1994	06	09	00:33:16.2	-13.841	-67.533	631	8.2	Northern Bolivia
2	1994	10	04	13:22:55.8	43.773	147.321	14	8.3	Kuril Islands
3	1995	07	30	05:11:23.6	-23.340	-70.294	46	8.0	Near Coast of Northern Chile
4	1995	10	09	15:35:53.9	19.055	-104.205	33	8.0	Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico
5	1996	02	17	05:59:30.5	-0.891	136.952	33	8.2	Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia
6	1998	03	25	03:12:25.0	-62.877	149.527	10	8.1	Balleny Islands Region
7	2000	11	16	04:54:56.7	-3.980	152.169	33	8.0	New Ireland Region, P.N.G.
8	2001	06	23	20:33:14.1	16.265	-73.641	33	8.4	Near Coast of Peru
9	2003	09	25	19:50:06.3	41.815	143.910	27	8.3	Hokkaido, Japan Region
10	2004	12	23	14:59:04.3	-50.240	160.133	10	8.1	North of Macquarie Island
11	2004	12	26	00:58:50.7	3.298	95.779	10	8.9	Off West Coast of Northern Sumatra

South Latitudes and West Longitudes are indicated by NEGATIVE numbers.

Source: USGS NEIC PDE catalog; Data are preliminary.

Deaths from Magnitude 8 and Greater Earthquakes
Since 1990

Date UTC	Region	Magnitude	Number Killed *
1994 06 09	Northern Bolivia	8.2	10
1994 10 04	Kuril Islands	8.3	11
1995 07 30	Near Coast of Northern Chile	8.0	3
1995 10 09	Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico	8.0	49
1996 02 17	Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia	8.2	166
1998 03 25	Balleny Islands Region	8.1	0
2000 11 16	New Ireland Region, P.N.G.	8.0	2
2001 06 23	Near Coast of Peru	8.4	138
2003 09 25	Hokkaido, Japan Region	8.3	0
2004 12 23	North of Macquarie Island	8.1	0
2004 12 26	Off West Coast of Northern Sumatra	8.9	9
Total			388

[EBH]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/wl_nm/quake_dc

In the low-lying Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was to declare a national disaster in the archipelago whose coral atolls are a magnet for tourists from around the world, said chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed.

"The damage is considerable," Shaheed said. "The island is only about three feet (one meter) above sea level and a wave of water four feet high swept over us."

The international airport was unusable, he said.

"It is a very bad situation. It is terrible," Shaheed said.

"As you know it is the peak tourist season. We are trying to get reports from those areas. The whole of the Maldives is a tourist area so we are just hoping and praying."

[ken5050]

and to think last night at 10PM..(post #51 this thread)..how it was possible to have a quake this big in the ocean WITHOUT generating a tsunami?

Slightly off topic..but in the 70's I think..there was a cyclone in BanglaDesh that drowned an estimated 100,000 people..

[Lokibob]

Wow, I went to bed it was an 8.5, waking up to now an 8.9.

I knew that I had never seen one this big on the seismograph (post 20).

From what I have seen, there isn't a big tsunami forecasting center in the Indian ocean like we have in the Pacific. Had this happened in the Pacific ocean, I am fairly confident there would have been warnings.

I fear the death toll will become much higher than anybody can imagine. Many prayers for those lost.

[Doofer]

Underground nuclear test by the North Koreans?

Say what?

[Lokibob]

I have heard nothing about our base in Diego Garcia, but for background:

Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory is located at 7 Degrees South Latitude, off the tip of India. Diego Garcia is exclusively a military reservation located on a small host country atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. The heavily vegetated island has an area of 6,720 acres. The average elevation is four feet above sea level. The maximum elevation is 22 feet. This island is horseshoe shaped with a perimeter of approximately 40 miles. The enclosed lagoon is 6 1/2 miles wide and 13 miles long.

Diego Garcia is a living coral atoll, the coral reefs and island are made up of trillions of living organisms. Once an ancient volcano, all that is left is the atoll surrounding a central lagoon. Thanks to its tropical location and heavy rainfall, the island is heavily vegetated with coconut palm and ironwood trees.

From the air, Diego Garcia takes on the rough outline of a footprint on the ocean surface -- thus its nickname "Footprint of Freedom". The island stretches 15 miles, north to south, and about 35 miles from tip to tip of its horseshoe shape. The interior lagoon is 13 miles in length and 6.5 miles at its widest point. The island has an area of 6,720 acres (roughly 10.5 square miles) with an average natural elevation of four feet above sea level. Lagoon depths vary from 60 to 100 feet with coral heads in all areas.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Didn't see this, I pinged you on another thread - sorry!

At any rate, although I don't think that EVERY earthquake is during a full moon, I don't think it's tin foil to think that the lunar phases affect the function of the earth.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Sydney Morning Herald is estimating 5000 dead, mostly by drowning.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Tsunamis-ring-of-death/2004/12/26/1103996441031.html

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Bump for a later read.

[KMC1]

So am I to understand that this is the second earthquake over 8pts in 2 days? How many thousands dead?
Sharper Minds Daily...

[ko_kyi]

I am trying to get info about relatives in Burma. My wife is trying to call on the phone. If anyone hears news about the costal areas please ping me, thx.

[Strategerist]

As you probably already know news gets out of Burma slowly.

This is the only reference to the tsunami and Burma on Google News:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1272511.htm


Tsunami kills 10 in central Burma
The tsunami which drove through the Andaman Sea on Sunday destroyed a bridge in south-east Burma and killed 10 people and a number of fishing trawlers were missing at sea, a fishing operator said.

The six men and four women were killed in the coastal town of Kawthaung when the huge wave caused by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra struck.

"They were killed when a bridge collapsed," said the operator of a fishing company in the town.

Officials were not reachable in Kawthaung, which lies close to the border with Thailand where at least 223 people were killed by the monster wave.

The fishing operator said a number of trawlers had been at sea when the waves struck and their fate was not known.

State television in the secretive, military-ruled country confirmed that the undersea quake and several aftershocks had been felt in Burma.

But it gave no details of damage or injuries.

In Bangkok, scientists said they had detected a 6.4 magnitude earthquake centred in Burma on Sunday at around 8:00am local time.

-Reuters

[MikefromOhio]

Yeah unfortunately this isnt the first time I have seen it on here...there was a Christopher Reeves thread that had to be locked down because of this stuff....

its amazing the misguided angst I see sometimes....

[snopercod]

Full moon today.