New Madrid.
Posted on 12/26/2004 12:25:29 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale has shaken Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing nine people, triggering large waves at sea and sending thousands fleeing their homes in panic, officials and media said.
Around the same time, an earthquake measuring 7.36 on the Richter scale hit Bangladesh's southeastern Chittagong port city, the city's geophysical observatory said, and a tsunami killed 150 in Sri Lanka, according to an official there. A tidal wave was also reported in Thailand, where 100 people were said to be injured.
Residents in Indonesia said buildings collapsed and people fled their houses amid widespread panic.
"I saw four bodies of kids and five bodies of adults," one resident identified as Mustofa told El Shinta radio on Sunday from the Aceh provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of the island.
A flash flood hit part of Banda Aceh city before receding, he said from the town, 1,250 km (775 miles) northwest of Jakarta. It was not immediately known where the water had come from.
Most telephone lines appeared to have been severed and calls to the area could not be connected.
"The quake was 6.4 on the Richter scale. It happened at 7:59 a.m (12:59 a.m. local time)," Fauzi, an official at the Bureau of Meteorology and Geophysics in Jakarta, told Reuters.
Residents of coastal regions reported large waves at sea. In the town of Sigli witnesses reported rising sea levels, Fauzi said.
Inland residents said river levels could be seen rising.
The earthquake could have triggered tsunami tidal waves and may also have damaged dams, causing rivers to rise, Fauzi added.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the earthquake at a magnitude of 8.1 and said it took place off the west coast of Sumatra at a depth of 40 km (25 miles).
The tremor was felt as far away as Singapore and Bangkok.
The epicentre had yet to be determined but preliminary data indicated areas between Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, and North Sumatra province, had been affected, Fauzi said.
Residents in North Sumatra's capital, Medan, reported a strong tremor that caused panic.
"It was quite strong. We ran out of our houses but we're now back inside," said one resident.
An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rattled Indonesia's eastern Papua province in November, killing 29 people in the coastal town of Nabire.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire where plate boundaries intersect and volcanoes regularly erupt.
Sounds like something big is moving down there...
Yes, the third. First was outside Australia. Terrifying power these sunamis have.
| 26-DEC-2004 11:05:00 | 13.54 | 92.88 | 6.3 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26-DEC-2004 10:19:29 | 13.45 | 92.79 | 6.2 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 10:18:12 | 8.95 | 93.73 | 5.5 | 10.0 | NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 09:20:01 | 8.87 | 92.38 | 6.5 | 10.0 | NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 07:38:24 | 13.12 | 93.05 | 5.8 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 07:07:09 | 10.34 | 93.76 | 5.7 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 06:21:58 | 10.62 | 92.32 | 5.7 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 04:21:26 | 6.90 | 92.95 | 7.3 | 10.0 | NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 03:08:42 | 13.81 | 92.97 | 6.1 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:59:12 | 3.18 | 94.26 | 5.9 | 10.0 | OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:51:59 | 12.51 | 92.59 | 6.0 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:36:06 | 12.14 | 93.01 | 5.8 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:34:50 | 4.10 | 94.18 | 5.8 | 10.0 | OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:22:01 | 8.86 | 92.50 | 6.0 | 10.0 | NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 02:15:57 | 12.37 | 92.51 | 5.8 | 10.0 | ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 01:48:46 | 5.39 | 94.42 | 5.9 | 10.0 | NORTHERN SUMATERA, INDONESIA |
| 26-DEC-2004 00:58:50 | 3.30 | 95.78 | 8.5 | 10.0 | OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA |
| 24-DEC-2004 23:54:48 | -6.55 | 109.30 | 4.5 | 268.7 | JAWA, INDONESIA |
| 24-DEC-2004 19:36:38 | -19.17 | 167.70 | 5.3 | 32.5 | VANUATU ISLANDS REGION |
| 24-DEC-2004 13:39:45 | -20.20 | -178.78 | 5.1 | 621.8 | FIJI ISLANDS REGION |
| 24-DEC-2004 05:31:44 | -50.20 | 161.27 | 5.5 | 10.0 | NORTH OF MACQUARIE ISLAND |
| 23-DEC-2004 14:59:04 | -50.24 | 160.13 | 7.8 | 10.0 | NORTH OF MACQUARIE ISLAND |
| 23-DEC-2004 05:12:53 | 63.33 | -151.50 | 4.5 | 1.0 | CENTRAL ALASKA |
| 22-DEC-2004 21:03:38 | -56.08 | -124.78 | 6.1 | 10.0 | SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE |
No. 2 was that 8.9 "aftershock" to No. 1 SSE of Australia.
So, don't they say that when there's a big earthquake there's usually one on the opposite side of the globe? Because the closest big fault opposite this one seems to be the New Madrid..
Oh, cr*p. That would be my part of the world.
New Madrid is the one that affects me.
New Madrid.
--Who is "they"--?
I suppose it will take a while for them to agree on the numbers, but several articles have said that that 8.5 earthquake in your table was later estimated to be 8.9.
I don't know .. that's why I'm asking. I've just heard that several times before (in fact, I saw it mentioned last night) and I'm wondering if there's anything to it. The general idea, as I recall, is that the shockwaves vibrate around the globe and meet again on the opposite end.
Was there one near the South Pole lately?
I'm 99.999% CONVINCED this supposed Bangladeshi quake is completely bogus, non-existent.
The Bangladeshis themselves admitted they don't have an actual working seismic network.
This is either the original 8.9 earthquake mislocated with a bad magnitude, or one of the aftershocks to the 8.9 in the Andamans mislocated with a bad magnitude.
Local agencies in the Third World have a record of really badly botching earthquake info. Unfortunately this one has made it out on the wires and on to cable news crawlers and taken on a life of its own.
I take this as a true sign of the last days (for the Islamic world).
The 8.9 quake yesterday was 5,200 miles away from the 8.1 quake in the MacQuarie Ridge south of Australia. It was not an "aftershock" of that earthquake.
You can't "botch" a large earthquake, the whole world feels the vibrations. The US network picks up quakes 6+ in intensity.
I tend to agree with you.
Considering the tsunami may have killed upwards of 1,000 people in a church in India, and thousands of the dead are Buddhists and Hindus, I suspect you're wrong.
I take this as a sign that the Indo-Australian tectonic plate is still heading northwards at a high rate of speed into Asia as it has for the last several million years.
Oh yes you can. The Indonesians themselves claimed the 8.9 megaquake was initially of M 6.8.
This quake doesn't appear anywhere on the NEIC or Swiss Red Puma lists. It never happened.
The US agencies say these quakes are initially a wrong number.
Intensity is determined by examining the seismograph readouts. You do not instantly "know" an intensity.
You are very, very wrong.
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