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10-foot tsunami hit island near Aceh, fate of 5000 residents unknown, thousands dead elsewhere
Sydney Morning Herald ^ | March 29, 2005 - 5:04PM | Jano Gibson and agencies

Posted on 03/29/2005 7:05:45 AM PST by dead

A three-metre-high tsunami struck Simeuleu Island near Aceh minutes after the huge earthquake that struck off Indonesia's western coast, Kyoto and Agence France-Presse news agencies reported.

And the fate of around 5000 people living on the isolated Banyak islands close to the epicentre of the massive earthquake remains unknown, as aftershocks continued to rattle Sumatra today.

``We are extremely concerned about the fate of 5000 people living in the Banyaks island group. We've had absolutely no news from these islands," Jude Barrand, communications officer for international aid agency SurfAid, told smh.com.au.

"There has been no contact and they were very close to the epicentre of the earthquake.''

A military commander in Indonesia's Aceh Province said the three-metre tsunami had caused extensive damage on Simeuleu Island.

According to an Aceh-based journalist who made contact with the island, the main hospital in Sinabang had been destroyed and could not be used. He said there were unconfirmed reports of 25 dead on the island.

Earlier today there were reports only of tsunamis running to 25cms high, leading experts to express their bafflement as to why last night's quake had not generated a larger tidal wave as in the Boxing Day disaster.

But there were later reports that an entire town which survived the Boxing Day quake - Aceh Singkil, on the south-western coast of Aceh province -had been levelled by the latest quake.

More than 10,000 people fled their homes there, Antara news agency reported. But there were no details of any casualties.

Endang Suwaraya, the military commander in the western Indonesian province of Aceh, close to the epicentre of the magnitude 8.7 quake, said he had received reports that Sinabang's port and airport were damaged.

The earthquake is believed to have killed between 1000 and 2000 people on the popular surfing island Nias, the country's Vice President Jusuf Kalla said today.

Already reeling from fatalities caused by the Boxing Day disaster, the 600,000-strong island found itself near the epicentre of the quake, which struck at 11.15pm local time (2.15am today AEST).

Jossi Syahrial, who manages SurfAid's Sumatra headquarters in Pedang said the latest quake felt much stronger than the Boxing Day monster.

"It's stronger because the epicentre is closer. The first time was in Aceh area, now the epicentre has moved to Nias. It definitely felt stronger,'' she said.

She said everyone feared another tsunami and started "start leaving the house and screaming, just paranoid, so traumatic''.

Fatheena Faleel, who fled her home with her three children in Banda Aceh after viewing the warning on television, said: "It was like reliving the same horror of three months ago."

Amid confusion over the number of people killed in Nias, with reports of people buried under collapsed buildings, Mr Kalla told El Shinta news radio: "Roughly it is expected between 1000 and 2000 died."

But earlier, in the town of Gunungsitoli, Agus Mendrofa, the island's deputy district head said at least 296 people had died and about 70 per cent of buildings had collapsed in the market district.

SurfAid - which is helping Nias recover from the Boxing Day tsunami - said "minimal deaths" had so far been reported there, though the island had suffered a lot of structural damage.

Two people were reportedly killed in eastern Sri Lanka after the quake struck as tens of thousands of panic-stricken people fled for higher ground following a government-issued tsunami alert.

The TamilNet website said a boy was killed in an accident involving a truck as people fled coastal areas around Batticaloa and a woman died in Kalmunai, also in Sri Lanka's east, as she sought higher ground.

Sri Lanka's embassy in Washington received a warning call from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii just minutes after the Indonesian earthquake struck about 2.15am AEST.

The embassy said the quake was described as an after-shock to the December 26 temblor that launched a deadly tsunami which killed at least 31,000 in Sri Lanka and tens of thousands more on Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal coasts.

The embassy immediately contacted civilian and military authorities in Sri Lanka.

Deputy Meteorology Director P M Jayatilake said Japan's Meteorological Agency also alerted Colombo.

Local police then warned people to evacuate coastal areas.

"We can't take chances given what happened just three months ago,"a senior official said. "Better be safe than sorry."

As Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called off a state visit to Australia, the Australian government announced it would provide an immediate assistance package of $1 million to help with relief efforts.

"We stand ready to provide further assistance if requested,'' the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

DFAT is unable to ascertain whether any Australians are among the reported casualties on Nias Island.

And an Australian surfing tour company has been unable to contact one of its charter boats carrying "high profile surfers" in waters near Nias, though World Safaris' Shaun Levings said he held no fears for their safety as they on the ocean.

Before reports of the Simeuleu Island tsunami damage, Japan had kept its tsunami warning in place for nations around the Indian Ocean, saying its tidal gauges in the region had detected a 25cm tsunami off Sri Lanka and a smaller one off the Maldives.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said a 25cm tsunami hit Australia's remote Cocos Island.

In Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province hardest hit on December 26, the quake cut electricity and thousands of people poured into the streets, most getting into vehicles to flee low-lying areas.

The panic gripped at least one camp in Banda Aceh where tsunami survivors have been living. An Associated Press photographer described thousands of people fleeing their tents at the camp known as TVRI.

Police with megaphones walked up and down the road, telling people not to panic and to return to their tents.

In Sri Lanka, warning sirens blared along the island nation's east coast and President Chandrika Kumaratunga urged people to evacuate immediately to higher ground.

Some people sought refuge in temples and churches while others simply stood on streets several kilometres away from the ocean terrified another tsunami would strike.

The quake was felt as far away as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, more than 700km from the epicentre.

In Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur and Penang, fire alarms sent panicked residents fleeing their apartments and hotels.

In Singapore, residents of high-rise apartments felt the buildings sway.

Slight tremors were reported in the Thai capital of Bangkok, and officials issued a tsunami warning for residents in the country's south, where more than 3,000 died in December.

Except for Nias, there were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage.

In New York, the United Nations said it hoped to have helicopters out early today to survey the damage from the earthquake.

Agencies


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banyaksisland; earthquake; indonesia; tsunami
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To: HoustonCurmudgeon

Gee, sorry. I wonder if the real Solomon ever had ANY MINOR slip-ups!!


21 posted on 03/29/2005 7:39:51 AM PST by SolomoninSouthDakota (Daschle is gone.)
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To: Steve_Seattle
It's a holiday in most current and former British Commonwealth countries, like Australia.

I would imagine it's also celebrated in any country that caters to Australian and other English speaking tourists.

22 posted on 03/29/2005 7:47:29 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: HoustonCurmudgeon

Boxing Day is NOT when the British exchange Christmas gifts. It came originally from apprentices carrying around a box to collect gratuities and eventually evolved into a day when cash and gifts were given to servants and tradesmen. It is always celebrated on Dec. 26.


23 posted on 03/29/2005 7:48:57 AM PST by Miss Marple
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To: SolomoninSouthDakota

Please read my reply 23. If you google it there are many explanations of Boxing Day, NONE of which say that it is a day to exchange Christmas gifts in order to keep December 25 holy.


24 posted on 03/29/2005 7:50:56 AM PST by Miss Marple
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To: Miss Marple

Thanks for your consideration. This just isn't that big of an issue to the story. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'll take your word for it. I've got to get off here and study my nuclear physics! Bye for now.


25 posted on 03/29/2005 7:54:05 AM PST by SolomoninSouthDakota (Daschle is gone.)
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To: Miss Marple

Thanks for the correction. Having lived in a couple of Commonwealth countries I shall write my friends and tell them they both misinformed me and are doing it wrong.


26 posted on 03/29/2005 7:56:08 AM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon (Redneck from a red city, in a red county, in a red state, and a former Army Red Leg.)
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To: SolomoninSouthDakota

It is not the slip up, it's the calling it PC, when you had no idea, that was bothersome.


27 posted on 03/29/2005 7:57:29 AM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon (Redneck from a red city, in a red county, in a red state, and a former Army Red Leg.)
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To: Steve_Seattle
I thought Boxing Day was a British thing, not something recognized in "the whole world."

And *I* thought it was a Canadian thing.

28 posted on 03/29/2005 8:01:11 AM PST by cantfindagoodscreenname
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To: SolomoninSouthDakota

Oh, fine, hide behind nuclear physics when things get complicated here! /humor (some might think that tag belongs at the beginning of my post)


29 posted on 03/29/2005 8:01:47 AM PST by SlowBoat407 (Everything that I've written on it for the past two years is GONE!)
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To: Steve_Seattle

I thought Boxing Day was a British thing, not something recognized in "the whole world."



Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Seychelles, Maldives, Kenya, Singapore, an so forth (all British commonwealth members or possessions until after WWII) celebrate Boxing Day on December 26th. Boxing Day is an official day off for people that serve on Christmas. Early tradition had alms put in boxes at church services to be dispensed the next day (box-ing). Later, the tradition expanded to employers giving large bonuses and gifts to all employees.

The December 26th tsunami hit as hundreds of thousands gathered to the traditional celebrations of setting off fireworks and celebrating on the beaches throughout former or current British commonwealth nations.

As to your comment "the whole world" Once upon a time the British dominated the world. If they did not have a direct stake, they certainly controlled some aspect of trade or diplomacy. Britains ruled the oceans and almost all viable trade routes. Thus the British way of life was accepted as standard. Only three countries overthrew British dominion at their empire's height, the USA, the Republic of South Africa, and the Sully ancestral home in the Republic of Ireland.


30 posted on 03/29/2005 8:02:37 AM PST by sully777 (It's like my momma always said, "Two wrongs don't make a right but two Wrights make an airplane.")
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To: SlowBoat407

LOL!! Bye.


31 posted on 03/29/2005 8:02:56 AM PST by SolomoninSouthDakota (Daschle is gone.)
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To: Steve_Seattle

We call it Boxing day in Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth.


32 posted on 03/29/2005 8:09:09 AM PST by Ashamed Canadian
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To: HoustonCurmudgeon; MadIvan
Well, all I know is what I read on several sites before I replied to you, most written by British people. Snopes also has an explanation which is the same as what I posted.

Perhaps your friends were religious and did this as a personal choice, so that they personally could avoid gift-giving on Christmas Day.

MadIvan, what is your understanding of the origin and purpose of Boxing Day?

33 posted on 03/29/2005 8:11:29 AM PST by Miss Marple
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To: dead

Boxing Day used to mean Chris Simon and Bob Probert
going at it...


34 posted on 03/29/2005 8:12:58 AM PST by rahbert
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To: dead

I hope that the US keeps the checkbook CLOSED this time.


35 posted on 03/29/2005 8:17:50 AM PST by Centurion2000 (Nations do not survive by setting examples for others. Nations survive by making examples of others)
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To: bd476

Full moon December 26, 2004 and March 25, 2005. Quakes on Dec 26,2004 and March 28 2005.


36 posted on 03/29/2005 8:19:07 AM PST by Lijahsbubbe (Boredom is simply a lack of attention)
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To: sully777
Early tradition had alms put in boxes at church services to be dispensed the next day (box-ing). Later, the tradition expanded to employers giving large bonuses and gifts to all employees.

Ah, now I know. I had wondered about the origins of Boxing Day. A Canadian professor once told us it was the day when unwanted Christmas presents were put back in their boxes to be returned to the store. I guess he was just pulling our legs!

37 posted on 03/29/2005 8:24:17 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Steve_Seattle

"The sun never sets on the British Empire."

History books are our friends.


38 posted on 03/29/2005 8:33:42 AM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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To: dead

It's amazing that in this modern age of instant communication that there are still pockets of the world so isolated that it takes a full day to realize a catastrophe has struck.


39 posted on 03/29/2005 8:35:10 AM PST by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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To: Diddle E. Squat

So if the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, is the day after Easter called Boxing Helena Day?


40 posted on 03/29/2005 8:35:32 AM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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