Nine Reportedly Killed in Indonesian Quake

Nine Reportedly Killed in Indonesian Quake

snip

"JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh Sunday and radio reports said several small buildings had collapsed and large waves had slammed the area's north coast. Witnesses told Jakarta's el-Shinta radio station that nine people were killed in the quake, but there was no immediate way to confirm the casualty and damage reports.

There were conflicting reports on the size of the temblor, which struck about 8 a.m. and was centered about 100 miles off the west coast of Sumatra. The U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites)'s Web site recorded a magnitude of 8.1, capable of massive damage. But Indonesian seismologists said the quake had a magnitude of 6.4. There was no way to immediately clarify the discrepancy."

Why the discrepancy?

snip

"The quake was felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and came just three days after an 8.1 quake struck the ocean floor between Australia and Antarctica, causing buildings to shake hundreds of miles away but no serious damage or injury"

I hadn't heard about this other 8 pointer.

There have been A LOT of really large quakes in that part of the world in the last week. You can sign up for this alert when there are larger quakes. It may have been 6.4 on land but looks like it originated off shore.

Here was the other one this week:
3 2004 12 23 14:59:04.3 -50.240 160.133 10 8.1 North of Macquarie Island
14 2004 12 26 00:58:50.7 3.298 95.778 10 8.5 Off West Coast of Northern Sumatra


2004/12/26 00:58 M 8.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA Z= 10km 3.30N 95.78E

This information is provided by the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center.
(Address problems to: sedas@ghtmail.cr.usgs.gov)

These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 8.5 earthquake OFF THE W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA has occurred at:
3.30N 95.78E Depth 10km Sun Dec 26 00:58:50 2004 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Sun Dec 26 00:58:50 2004
Time Near Epicenter Sun Dec 26 06:58:50 2004
Eastern Standard Time (EST) Sat Dec 25 19:58:50 2004
Central Standard Time (CST) Sat Dec 25 18:58:50 2004
Mountain Standard Time (MST) Sat Dec 25 17:58:50 2004
Pacific Standard Time (PST) Sat Dec 25 16:58:50 2004
Alaska Standard Time (AST) Sat Dec 25 15:58:50 2004
Hawaii Standard Time (HST) Sat Dec 25 14:58:50 2004

Location with respect to nearby cities:
250 km (155 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
320 km (200 miles) W of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia
1260 km (780 miles) SSW of BANGKOK, Thailand
1605 km (1000 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

For maps, additional information, and subsequent updates,
please consult:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usslav.htm .

Flinn-Engdahl Region Number = 705

For the most significant earthquakes, information may also be
available from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program home page at
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ and the USGS home page at
http://www.usgs.gov/ .

You will continue to receive messages like this when
earthquakes occur that have magnitude 5.5 or greater
anywhere in the world OR 4.5 or greater in the contiguous
US, Hawaii, and Alaska (excluding the Aleutian Islands).

The subscription form for this service is located at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/products/neic_data_services.html
If you do not wish to receive these messages, please visit
that site, select "bigquake," enter your Email address, and
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--
U.S. Geological Survey -- Science for a Changing World


--

Just had a rash of them: (ought to thrill the end o' worlders)

2004/12/26 01:48 M 5.9 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA Z= 10km 5.39N 94.42E
2004/12/26 02:22 M 6.0 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Z= 10km 8.86N 92.50E
2004/12/26 02:15 M 5.8 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Z= 10km 12.37N 92.51E
2004/12/26 03:08 M 6.1 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Z= 10km 13.81N 92.97E
Two more while I was writing this:
2004/12/26 02:51 M 6.0 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Z= 10km 12.51N 92.59E
2004/12/26 02:36 M 5.8 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Z= 10km 12.14N 93.01E

Just heard on Air America. That there are widespread power and phone outages and Tsunamis are coming ashore.

Indonesia Struck by 8.5-Magnitude Quake, Top Ten of Last Century


Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Indonesian island of Sumatra was rocked by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. That may rank it among the 10 strongest earthquakes in the last century.

The quake caused casualties and damage, Agence France-Presse said, without giving any details. The quake was felt 950 kilometers (589 miles) away in Singapore.

The temblor, which struck about 7 a.m. local time, was centered offshore about 1,605 kilometers northwest of the capital Jakarta, at a depth of 10 kilometers, U.S. seismologists said in a preliminary report on the Web site.

The earthquake would rank among the 10 strongest recorded since 1900, if the preliminary reading isn't revised lower, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.


Full:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=top_world_news&sid=anhzkLgfwyz0


Gooog web for 'indonesia sumatra island"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=indonesia+sumatra+island

Goog news for 'indonesia sumatra island"
http://news.google.com/news?q=indonesia%20sumatra%20island&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=wn

Indonesia Earthquake Said to Kill 13

"Four people died in Thailand in the southern tourist resort of Phuket, said Sorat Susaeng of the Narenthorn Center of the Public Health Ministry. The center also reported that people were swept away in Phuket by a tsunami with waves surging as high as 16 feet.

Massive tidal waves in Sri Lanka — some 1,000 miles west of the quake's epicenter — forced authorities to shut operations at some ports. In southern and eastern Sri Lanka waves caused flash floods, displacing thousands of people, witnesses and police said. There was no immediate reports of casualties."

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia on Sunday, killing more than 7,200 people in six countries

AKARTA, Indonesia - The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years rocked northern Indonesia on Sunday and launched tidal waves that swamped villages and seaside resorts across Asia, killing more than 700 people in five countries.

Some 300 were reported killed in Sri Lanka, 286 in India, 94 in Indonesia, 61 in Thailand and seven in Malaysia. Hundreds were reported missing, and the death toll was expected to rise.
(more)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041226/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake

Eyewitness reports from BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4125619.stm
We were anchored in Patong beach , where the beach area basically drained of water, then after five minutes the water filled back in and large waves approximately 8m high crashed onto the main road in Patong.

Small boats dragged anchors. The beaches along the west side of Phuket were basically washed away.

All boats are standing by for more after reports of a quake in the Nicobar islands.
Mike Ryniker, Phuket




A friend of mine, who is on holiday with her husband and children in Phuket, called and said that there was a disaster. Their hotel was ruined and they are now standing on a mountain, waiting for the next wave, terrified.
Victoria, Sweden

It's terrible. The rain and the wall of water and the horrific shaking. In so many years of living here I have not ever seen anything as terrible as this. God is angry. God is telling us he is angry.
Kareemoff Sumyun Gy, Jakarta

I live in Ao-Nang Krabi . The scene is quite bad here - with upturned boats lying broken and strewn across the street. Many tourists and locals are missing - they were leaving on tours as the wave hit. Army and police are arriving in their masses.
Rob Bysouth, Krabi, Thailand

The whole of Male and all islands are under knee-deep water after huge waves washed the islands.
Mohamed latheef, Male', Maldives

This morning my brother called me to say that he is alive. He lives on the small tourist island, Koh Phi Phi near Phuket in south Thailand. He reported that: "The whole island is smashed, there are dead people all over!" He was trying to find his Thai girlfriend and a Danish friend.
Stinus, Copenhagen, Denmark

People living in the costal areas have been struck by panic. Huge tidal waves hit the coast. Rescue efforts are under way. Exact damages are largely unknown.
Sriram Srinivasan, Chennai, India

Waves never seen before hit the island of Penang, Malaysia, devastating coastal areas. Waves of more than 10ft high swept away wooden stilt houses at coastal areas. Ambulances are seen rushing to affected areas.
Victor Tan, Penang, Malaysia

:(

There is something up. It seems to be building up to something. That makes me uneasy.

Waking up to hear that thousands are dead really shook me.

Many places hit with huge tidal waves.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/ts_nm/quake_dc

Thank you for the BBC link. Very hard to read. Those poor people.

Most recent coming in:

I have been surprised to see that most media has been reporting that the damage has been confined to the immediate South East Asian and Sub-continental coastline when in fact we here in Seychelles (some +2000kms South) have been hit by a barrage of tidal fluctuations which have decimated most of our coastline. Our capital has been flooded. Major Roads washed away and in all likelihood lives lost. More will become apparent as events unfold. From what i understand similar effects have been reported as far south as Mauritius and Reunion.
Nelson Vidot, Mahe, Seychelles

Local TV channels in Chennai report more than 3000 dead in Tamil Nadu alone. My question: The MET dept warns of after shocks in the evening can the after shocks be of higher intensity than the parent one (8.9)?
M.Vedaprakash, Chennai,India

We are on a drill ship about 100miles off the coast of India, near Kakinada. We are in 3,000ft water depth, but even so experienced a large swell of around 2metres pass through about 1030hrs local time. We are also experiencing swells from the after shocks - our supply base, in Kakinada, has been clobbered, luckily with no casualties and the port area has been evacuated.
Bob Forrest, Discoverer Seven Seas, Bay of Bengal

Many tidal waves have reached Reunion Island where many fishing boats have sunk in the coastal harbours. Nobody died. More tidal waves are expected in the evening. The authorities have prohibited the access to the harbours and to the beaches.
Swami Advayananda, Le Port, Reunion Island

Since tsunami is virtually unknown in India, many lives could have been saved if known. Curious onlookers who rushed to the marina beach to see what was happening were sucked in by the tidal waves. My heart goes to all the people who lost their lives in this calamity.
Shanthi Subba Rao, Chennai, India

My mother left her brother's resort "Khao lak Paradise Resort" in Phang-nga, Thailand just 30 minutes before the wave struck. Now everything is gone, the tourists and bungalows have been swept away. She has told me that one staff member who was there survived...he said the water started to recede and that everyone went down to the beach to look, it was like that for about 10 minutes and then there was a roar. I'm so glad my Mum is OK, my uncle who owns the resort and lives close by also left with his children before the wave hit...but some of our family friends are missing.
Sunsanee, Melbourne, Australia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4125619.stm

The Crappy News Network strikes again.

This is really really major.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Strong_earthquake_in_South_East_Asia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4125481.stm#map

:cry:

Many, many thousands killed.

:(

eom

By LELY T. DJUHARI, Associated Press Writer

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across Asia on Sunday, killing more than 5,600 people in six countries.

Tourists, fishermen, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water up to 20 feet high that swept across the Bay of Bengal, unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake centered off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

In Sri Lanka, 1,000 miles west of the epicenter, more than 2,425 people were killed, the prime minister's office said. At least 1,870 died in Indonesia, and 1,130 along the southern coasts of India. At least 198 were confirmed dead in Thailand, 42 in Malaysia and 2 in Bangladesh.

But officials expected the death toll to rise dramatically, with hundreds reported missing and all communications cut off to Sumatran towns closest to the epicenter. Hundreds of bodies were found on various beaches along India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, and more were expected to be washed in by the sea, officials said.

More:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041226/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake

This was a huge one. Dead in six countries.

I hope somebody warns people in Madagaskar and on the African coast !

Those poor people. This should be getting much more coverage than it is.

The lack of reporting by the US media is obscene.

Worse yet, they're mostly brown skinned.

Two or three times the number of people killed on 9/11, but I saw nothing about it on any cable news network last night.

Scanning now, I see:

CNN: "Presidential travel. Bush and Barney in the snow."
Faux: "US Airways aims to unite people with their luggage"
CNBC: An Infomercial.
MSNBC: "Iraqi election"

Pretty amazing footage.

I haven't been watching the whole time this morning. I scanned last night until 3:30 am and saw nothing but what was on the ticker at the bottom.

CNN, local news channels

haven't posted in a few weeks, but thinking now what I would not give for 1 decent news channel to give in depth coverage to significant breaking news stories. We have 94 channels, yet nothing...

I get it on Charter Cable, and they are running the sort of live coverage I was expecting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4125481.stm

And I imagine news from the hardest hit areas will take days to get out.

Has anyone heard? Or is Bush too busy vacationing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4125581.stm

Excerpt:
We were still in bed in a ground floor room right on the beachfront when we suddenly heard some shouts from outside.

Then the water started coming under the door. Within a few seconds it was touching the window.

We very quickly scrambled to get out as the windows started to cave in and glass shattered everywhere.

We swam out of the room neck deep in water, forcing our way through the tables and chairs in the restaurant and up into a tree.

But within about 30 seconds that tree collapsed as well and we were thrust back into the water where we had to try and keep our heads above the water line.

We were swept along for a few hundred metres, trying to dodge the motorcycles, refrigerators, cars and other debris that were coming with us.

Oh you mean 9,000 at least,eh?

Quake, Tsunami Devastate Asia; Nearly 9,500 Dead

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit Asia Sunday, unleashing a tsunami which devastated coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and tourist isles in Thailand, killing nearly 9,500 people.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/wl_nm/quake_dc

due to "6. When posting articles, please use the published title of the article as the title of the discussion thread."

At the time (04:00 UTC) the tsunamis were probably still on their way or had just hit.

I think that this shows a general problem with developing stories and the idea to always keep the original thread.

"Wisdom of the "original post" rule in LBN forum"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=120x27129

The magnitude of this disaster is astounding.

I wondered why I kept getting notices and still am for earthquake after earthquakes. They are not aftershocks they are continuing quakes on the same fault LINE. The ring of fire, which we on the west coast of the US are part of.


The earthquake was the world's biggest since 1964, said Julie Martinez, at the USGS in Golden, Colorado. "It is multiple earthquakes along the same faultline."

The tsunami was so powerful it reached across the ocean to smash boats and flood areas along the east African coast.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/wl_nm/quake_dc

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

This is pathetic. Thousands killed and CNN is still reporting the stale Christmas news from yesterday. Isn't anyone on duty in the newsroom or did they all have a little too much Christmas cheer.

But they don't want to show all that stuff to us dumb Americans. It's not that they don't have the news or the footage to show. They are showing it on their other channel.

It's that they don't WANT to show it to a US audience. The corporate media always try to avoid generating sympathy for those outside the US, unless it advances a Bush administration cause like the 'war on terror'.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Soldiers searched for bodies in treetops, families wept over the dead laid on beaches and rescuers scoured coral isles for missing tourists as Asia counted the cost Monday of a tsunami that killed more than 15,500.

"Death came from the sea," Satya Kumari, a construction worker living on the outskirts of the former French enclave of Pondicherry, India, told Reuters. "The waves just kept chasing us. It swept away all our huts. What did we do to deserve this?"


The wall of water up to 10 meters (30 ft) tall flattened houses, hurled fishing boats onto coastal roads, sent cars spinning through swirling waters into hotel lobbies and sucked sunbathers, babies and fishermen off beaches and out to sea.


Worst affected were Sri Lanka where 4,890 were killed, India where officials reported as many as 5,600 could be dead, northern Indonesia with 4,500 drowned and the southern tourist isles of Thailand where as many as 430 were feared to have lost their lives. Many of the dead were foreign tourists.

(snip)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=1&u=/nm/20041227/wl_nm/quake_dc

The rest of the article is worse :(

It Seemed Like a Scene From the Bible

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 27, 2004; Page A01

I was taking my morning swim around the island that my brother Geoffrey, a businessman, had bought on a whim a decade ago and turned into a tropical paradise 200 yards from one of the world's most beautiful beaches.

I was a quarter way around the island when I heard my brother shouting at me, "Come back! Come back! There's something strange happening with the sea." He was swimming behind me, but closer to the shore.

(snip)

In less than a minute, the water level had risen at least 15 feet, but the sea remained calm, with barely a wave in sight.

Within minutes, the beach and the area behind it had become an inland sea that rushed over the road and poured into the flimsy houses on the other side. The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible, a natural phenomenon unlike anything I had experienced.

(snip)

After a few minutes, the water stopped rising, and I felt it was safe to swim to the shore. What I did not realize was that the floodwaters would recede as quickly and dramatically as they had risen.

(snip)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26784-2004Dec26.html?nav=hcmodule

need to be investigating whats going on!!!

CNN has now finally switched to International & they're getting in some pretty horrific amateur videos, showing them unedited; gasp-worthy footage taken by folks up in some highrise hotels. The force of the waves as they are hitting the roofs of the shops & bungalows along this resort beach is just incredible, especially thinking of all the people who are most likely washing along with those waves. The waves were moving at the speed of jet airliners, they've said.

Anyway, if anybody is still awake, watch the videos they now have of the disaster on Patong Beach at Phuket in Thailand.

They're now saying there are 20,000 dead.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5155520.html

Death toll by nation
Associated Press
December 26, 2004 Minneapolis Star Tribune

"More than 13,300 people were reported dead across nine countries in southern Asia and Africa after massive tsunami waves smashed coastlines Sunday morning.

A breakdown of the toll so far:

- Indonesia: The health ministry reported 4,448 killed and hundreds more missing. Towns were leveled and bodies wedged in trees by walls of water. Aceh province on Sumatra island - torn by separatist violence for years - was near the Indonesian quake's epicenter and was the hardest-hit part of the vast archipelago.

- Sri Lanka: A military spokesman says the death toll is 4,590 in government-controlled areas. Tamil rebels say 1,500 were killed in their areas, making a total of 6,090. Some 170 children were feared lost in an orphanage. More than a million people were displaced from wrecked villages.

- India: An estimated 2,284 people died, officials said. The worst affected area was Tamil Nadu state, with 1,705 deaths. Huge waves left southern beaches strewn with bodies and flipped-over fishing boats and cars."

And the list goes on and on.

This is too horrible for words.

The destruction is astounding, unbelievable.

that has a link to some Yahoo message board? Looks as tho hundreds of a$$holes have decided to spend their day after Xmas smirking & cracking jokes about this tsunami. The arrogance & idiocy & outright cold-hearted hatred that we saw on that board made me wish for awful things to happen...and I live here! I didn't wonder why those towers came down & I won't question if it happens again...karma sucks sometimes!

No, I didn't see that thread. I don't wish anyone ill, but one can't help but wonder if they have souls. To harbor the kind of callous disregard for life they demonstrate poisons their hearts. Chances are another terrorist attack in the US would result in the deaths of innocent, good-hearted people rather than the damaged individuals who posted on those message boards. Everyone meets justice at some point, whether in this life or the next.
By the way, Isabel Allende talks about the karmic significance of the US being hit on 9/11. That was the anniversary of the US backed coup (1973) against her uncle, Salvador Allende, then president of Chile.

Some of the folks I've talked to about 9/11 will get really mad if I say anything about justice or karma, since many are oblivious to the foreign policy of this great nation. I feel bad just thinking about such things & do kind of believe that is all it takes, thoughts, let alone actions. Nothing religious, mind you, just a feeling about why we shouldn't put others down for no reason. Now I'm trying to equate this with what I read at that damn board, such as "the hand of god" or "god works in mysterious ways"...such nasty bullshit I wouldn't even repeat it. To see the Christian-take on this natural disaster, as tho it's some biblical prophecy, makes me even question my golden-rule/karma simplistic philosophy, since they are somewhat similar.

Someone else here said that catastrophes happen. Ain't it the truth, that's the way that the world goes 'round.