A powerful earthquake has struck off the western Indonesian island of Sumatra, sparking fears of a tsunami.
Alerts were issued for many Indian Ocean nations after the 7.9 quake, though Indonesia's has now been lifted.
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Wednesday's earthquake struck at 1810 (1110 GMT), about 15km (nine miles) under the sea, some 100km (60 miles) south-west of the city of Bengkulu, the US Geological Survey said.
There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde
Baroque From Australia, joined Apr 2006, 15380 posts, RR: 60 Reply 3, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 808 times:
Quoting QANTAS077 (Thread starter): a massive 7.9 earthquake has hit Indonesia, Tsunami warning is out for the region and NW Western Australia.
They can occur with a 7.9 but not all that common. The real worries I have are twofold. First there was an earlier quake near Krakatau presumably along the transform fault in the Sunda Strait. That might set Krakatau off again, although not all that likely. More of a worry is that it was also at the southern end of the Trans-Sumatera fault. With the plate boundary now having given way from Aceh down to Bengkulu
(oops now up to 8.2 so I take that back about being a bit small for a tsunami, certainly explains why it was felt in Jakarta. Not felt in Bandung, or not by those I talked to.)
When (not if) the Trans-Sumatera fault lets go, it will produce much more damage. There are some quite large towns like Bukit Tinggi built across the fault and the epicentres tend to be shallow. Having the plate boundary move so much in the past two or three years, makes a movement on the Trans-Sumatera much more imminent. Like the San Andreas it is a strike slip fault and can let go along quite a length.
The underground coal miners at Ombilin have a reason to feel a bit more nervous too!
I hope Bengkulu and its inhabitants have survived the event although now I find it was 8.2, the damage will have been severe - that is a lot more energy than a 7.9.
There is a statue of Raffles in its main street. Although Raffles founded the Bogor botanical gardens, which is where his wife is buried, while he ruled Indonesia during the Napoleonic wars (Holland being a bit [pre-]occupied!) his main base was Bengkulu. When he set off to return to the UK, his ship got just clear of the offshore islands (where tonights earthquake was centred) his ship sank, taking with it his botanical records and much of his writings. Raffles managed to get back to shore, but missing most of his possessions.
Cabso1 From Canada, joined May 2005, 502 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 787 times:
I actually felt the earthquake as it happened. Scary stuff, especially when you don't know if your apartment block is earthquake-prone or not. Granted, it wasn't so bad in Singapore, however it was reasonably shaky.
Baroque From Australia, joined Apr 2006, 15380 posts, RR: 60 Reply 5, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 772 times:
Quoting Cabso1 (Reply 4): I actually felt the earthquake as it happened. Scary stuff, especially when you don't know if your apartment block is earthquake-prone or not. Granted, it wasn't so bad in Singapore, however it was reasonably shaky.
CastleIsland From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 749 times:
Quoting Baroque (Reply 3): I hope Bengkulu and its inhabitants have survived the event although now I find it was 8.2, the damage will have been severe - that is a lot more energy than a 7.9.
Indeed, there's twice as much energy in an 8.2 relative to a 7.9. Hopefully the damage will not be great.
Baroque From Australia, joined Apr 2006, 15380 posts, RR: 60 Reply 13, posted (5 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 642 times:
Quoting Cabso1 (Reply 12): Yes, I felt it again too. I'll fill out the USGS form, Baroque.
Thanks Cabso1. The USGS now has the first major quake at 8.4 and the last huge one at 7.8 and nine others I can see over 5.0. Now getting a problem with overprinting of adjacent quakes so they are getting hard to count.
The aftershocks (stupid lady on our ABC just asked if these were like earthquakes - I would just like to see her face if she was close to a 7.8 aftershock!) seem to be getting closer to the coast.
I am wondering if this will put more stress on the T-S fault or if they could relieve it a bit. But it looks as if the first quake near the edge of the plate boundary has set off a series of others further into the Sumateran side of the plate.
If they were movement on the boundary (Benioff zone) they would be much deeper than the first, but the solutions given at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007hec6.php
indicate they are shallower. That might mean a whole new set of movements in the now unstable upper plate. Might be bad news.
Nearly missed that, I had that site up but one frame to the east. At least that latest one is further out to sea. I am worried that there might be an aftershock up around 7 onshore. Looking at the "1990 to present" earthquake map, I am wondering why I never experienced an earthquake on my visits to Padang and Bengkulu!
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