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
You are a Freeper after my own heart.
Why is it the further our nation continues, the worse our educational system seems to be? I point no fingers at the usual suspects (government,teachers,etc) but place blame where It truly belongs, on us. The public, the parents, the voters.
A poster the other day, on one of the 'hot' threads, stated something like, "protest has never done any good."
I guess the Boston Tea Party is something they think was a Debutante China Party.
When archeologists conclude there were no civilizations beyond a certain time period, and that we are the most advanced, I really wonder.
Maybe there were, and they were more advanced. But , like us, they foolishly allowed the knowledge to perish.
Unless the land you are on is only 4' above sea level.
It's not the height of the wave, it's the length of the wave, the water just keeps coming.
Good point.
The servants had to work on Christmas Day but had the 26th off to visit their families. They were given a box with presents and food to take with them, per an Aussie friend.
"But , like us, they foolishly allowed the knowledge to perish."
Apparently nobody remembers how to make a coffee pot spout that can pour worth a damn, anymore!
Your Aussie friend has got it right, I think.
"Two weeks ago an expert warned Sumatra to expect another quake. Yesterday he was proved right. Richard Macey and Deborah Smith report."
Experts predict this stuff all the time, but they only make the news the 1% of the time they are right; when they're wrong, no one cares.
That's why I don't drink coffee.
Is this a sex thread?
The number of (earthquakes that occur each day divided by the size of the earth/percentage under water)+d*recent activity=easy guess.
Was that the one where Klinger and Zayle(sp?) got into a fight and they decided to sort it out by boxing, from the later years w/ Col. Potter?
Also consider what a 10" wave ripping under your boat at 500 mph would do. The boat's bottom would become splinters in a split second.
I wonder how much of it went into somebodys pocket.
...isn't it funny how most people middle-age and older seem to know and understand more about the world and its customs than today's youth..
**
How right you are! I am a product of Catholic education, as well, but I went to grade school during the 1950s.
Your explanation of Boxing Day is correct.
It's when you also start on the cold turkey sandwiches and perhaps go beagling !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
