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Tsunami warning across Indian Ocean after 8.6-8.7 earthquake

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R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
8.7 earthquake near the coast of Sumatra. Sucks :(.

Large Aceh quake triggers Indian Ocean tsunami warning

An earthquake with an initial magnitude of 8.9 has struck under the sea off Indonesia's northern Aceh province.

The quake triggered a tsunami warning across the Indian Ocean region.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not yet known whether a tsunami had been generated, but advised authorities to "take appropriate action".

The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh.

The US Geological Survey, which documents quakes worldwide, said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

The tsunami centre's warning said quakes of such a magnitude "have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin".

Reuters reports that people in the region were making their way to higher ground.
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M

Manager

Member
They just said it could be fealt in Singapore, Thailand and south of India.

For comparison, the 2004 one was 9.3 and a couple of 10's of km closer to shore.
 
Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
0405_qqq6q.gif


so helpless, i am.
 
I

iamaustrian

Member
damn
Sumatra gets shaken a lot. been there 2 times and experienced probably 5-6 quakes(>4 though) in that time.

hopefully no tsunami
 
M

Manager

Member
They just said on CNN there is no way they can warn the people in the north tip of Sumatra before an eventual Tsunami hits.

Apparently 8.0+ magnitude earth quakes rarely hit more than once a year?
 
G

GONz

Member
A friend of mine felt it in Bangkok, while it didn't cause any reaction on an other friend in Jakarta. I really hope this doesn't turn out in another huge tsunami...
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
WTF again? I thought somebody must have bumped the old thread...

Not just Indian Ocean again, not just Indonesia, but Aceh...
 
V

Vilam

Maxis Redwood
Wow, that's a big quake. Is the positioning of it compared to the one in 2004 more or less of a threat to create big tsunamis? I would imagine less if it's further out like said...?
 
C

Cday

Banned
Initial magnitude readings are often adjusted after the fact. 2004 was 9.1, for every .2 raise = twice as much energy released.
 
M

MarkMclovin

Member
Our bosses just told us to be prepared as a lot of our companies clients are supported offshore in India. Our Chennai office has been evacuated and they are feeling the tremors in Bangalore.

Hope they are ok.
 
S

seanoff

Member
Vilam said:
Wow, that's a big quake. Is the positioning of it compared to the one in 2004 more or less of a threat to create big tsunamis? I would imagine less if it's further out like said...?
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no. the deeper the water the the more water gets moved.

a quake that moves the sea floor 1m in 200m of water generates a water column of 200m

a quake in 2000m of water has a water column of 2000m.

when 2000m of water approaches the coast it will have a larger wave than a 200m column.

that was part of the problem in Japan, the Japan trench is 7000 - 9000m deep. when the wave got to shallow water they were 15 -25m high.
 
M

Manager

Member
They explained a bit on CNN, that's it's a strike-slip. It's better in terms of not creating as big tsunami. A guy on another site (text was sent to me, sender didn't include link) wrote this summary:
EARTHQUAKE v. similar to 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. This one, 8.7 on the Richter scale, 33km deep, location 2.000°N, 92.500°E. The 2004 quake was 9.1 on the Richter scale, 30km deep and location 3.316°N 95.854°E. So very similar size, depth and general location.
In 2004 there were no warning systems in the Indian Ocean so IF this does create a Tsunami at least people will be forewarned this time.

This appears to have been a strike-slip earthquake (focal mechanism). It is unlikely that there will be a devastating tsunami.
edit: I should explain further. Tsunamis are generated by displacement of water. In the case of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, it was a megathrust which displaced a lot of water vertically, like so. This earthquake was almost purely strike-slip. Strike-slip earthquakes are completely horizontal--there is no vertical displacement. Since the vertical displacement of this earthquake will be relatively limited, the amount of water displaced and therefore tsunami is also likely to be limited.
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Same things was said by an expert on CNN.
 
T

Tideas

Banned
googleplex said:
Bullshit death is death!

170,000 ,men woman and children wiped out with no recourse, no warning? Being killed by a 15 foot high wall, and water and dying of old age is NOT the same!
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how many do you think die every year to something like a coconut falling on their head, or something similar? In the end, death is death. u're already dead. there's no such thing as a meaningful death

btw. everyday about 150,000 people die. there are 365 days a year
 
N

neoanarch

Member
BanGy.nz said:
Dudes on the BBC are chilled about it, strike slip earthquake so it's unlikely a massive tsunami will form. Yay!
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al jazeera hasn't gone back to it in quite a bit. Which is good news. But still felt as far away as India and Bangok which means there might be some local damage.
 
Y

Ydahs

Member
From Twitter -

Indonesia president: 'No tsunami threat although we are on alert from earthquake' off coast of Banda Aceh

Good news.
 
T

twofold

Member
-BLITZ- said:
The BBC said that in Jakarta buildings shook for up to five minutes during the quake.

Everyone is preparing to get out from their cities.
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I'm in Jakarta. I didn't feel anything, and neither did my girlfriend who is on the other side of the city. I didn't even know there had been an earthquake until I saw this thread. I have no idea where the BBC is getting their info from.
 
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