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

[commonguymd]

Thanks for that article. Seems when the water receded, people were curious and then it hit. Terrible.

[mewzilla]

Is this area a subduction zone? If so, does that have anything to do with the magnitude of the displacement?

[Central Scrutiniser]

Yeah, it was like that in Hilo many years ago, the beach receeded, everyone went out to check, and the wave came...

[commonguymd]

I gotta remember that. If i see it recede. Run. Fast.

[commonguymd]

The toll is over 10000 now. Truly in awe of mother nature. Life is fragile.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,11790524%255E1702,00.html

[pinz-n-needlez]

Thank you very much. :-)

I found my friend's sister's email address and have written to her to see what I can learn.

I'll pass on whatever info she has that might be useful to others here.

Pinz

[Ken H]

I gotta remember that. If i see it recede. Run. Fast.

And be sure to time your jump well!

[Central Scrutiniser]

I posted them here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308657/posts

[nhoward14]

Quix,

Note the header. This was an eyewitness report from the BBC. I am in Texas far, far away from this destruction.

[nhoward14]

I agree that there are basic values we all agree on. The issue is that you must agree with ALL the moral assumptions in order for the study to be valid. Once we get past the 10 commandments, we can find many places where Christians disagree on issues they would call moral issues. And some Christians won't even recognize all the commandments as valid.

[Strategerist]

Is this area a subduction zone? If so, does that have anything to do with the magnitude of the displacement?

Yes south of Sumatra and Java runs one of the longest subduction zones in the world; I think only South America may have a longer one. It also extends up a bit into the Bay of Bengal. Likely several hundred miles of the subduction face slipped....probably started at the south end where the epicenter is and the slippage moved north.

[capitan_refugio]

"Is this area a subduction zone?"

The epicentral data I have seen places the main shock right in the trench area, southwest of the island of Sumatra. The aftershock sequence seems to be spread out along the trend of the trench. This would seem to be most certainly subduction related.

However, I have also seen conflicting data concerning the depth of the hypocenter. Some listing reports it at the relatively shallow depth of 10 kiliometers, which is unusual for a subduction zone. For instance, the other recent great quake near New Zealand was at a depth of over 60 km - way down in the subducting plate.

On the other hand, I have also seen a report of a hypocentral depth of 40 km - which is more like it - but still on the shallow side. The amount of energy that be released in a subduction-related earthquake (in the area of two colliding crustal plates) is phenominal.

[Quix]

THANKS TONS AND TONS AND TONS for understanding.

May God be mighty in behalf of all those who seek Him from their heart.

May all suffering lead to intimacy with God.

May God's Love be manifested toward all those with any potential for seeking life and good.

[Quix]

TRUE! TRUE! TRUE!

ETERNAL LIFE is a LOT different from eternal DEATH.

I pray and play for keeps in eternal terms.

Satan plays for eternal death and suffering.

The stakes are not cotton candy.

[Quix]

THANKS.

[Quix]

I'm increasingly of the conviction that these two quakes at this time of year in Moslem regions . . . are likely NOT coincidental.

[Quix]

Great. Good having that on one screen for everyone.

[Quix]

Am increasingly feeling as I read of all this . . .

that this IS a big punctuation; alert; wake-up allowed by God.

And, I do NOT feel it is the last to occur in the near future.

[oceanperch]

Quix can't read your post he just left to go to church. : )

[Quix]

Thanks. Been very concerned about the Maldives.