[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] Latest news on N. Sumatra Mega Quake: 296 reported dead in temblor.
- From: "Wilson K." <pengelola@xxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 03:57:38 -0000
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7316846/
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Death toll in earthquake may rise dramatically
296 reported dead in temblor; official predicts up to 2,000 fatalities
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MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:19 p.m. ET March 28, 2005
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BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's
west coast late Monday, killing hundreds of people whose homes
collapsed on them and spreading panic across the Indian Ocean that
another killer tsunami was on the way. Indonesia's vice president
predicted up to 2,000 deaths.
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But fears of a second tsunami catastrophe in just over three months
eased within hours, as officials in countries at risk reported their
coasts clear of the type of quake-spawned waves that ravaged a dozen
countries in Asia and Africa on Dec. 26.
Almost all the deaths reported in the hours immediately after Monday's
quake were on Indonesia's Nias island, off Sumatra's west coast, which
was close to the epicenter. Police were pulling bodies of children out
of the rubble of collapsed houses, and a fire was reportedly raging in
one town.
"It is predicted =97 and it's still a rough estimate =97 that the number
... of dead may be between 1,000 and 2,000," Vice President Jusuf
Kalla told the el-Shinta radio station. He said the estimate was based
on an assessment of damage to buildings, not bodies counted.
Two people were also killed in Sri Lanka during a panicky evacuation
from the coast in a Tamil rebel-held area, authorities said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck about 19 miles under
the seabed, some 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital
of Aceh province on Sumatra island. It was centered just 110 miles
southwest of December's 9.0-magnitude temblor =97 the world's most
powerful in 40 years.
Monday's wallop, although very powerful, was but a fraction of the
earlier quake. In explosive power, December's quake was equal to 100
million pounds of TNT; it caused the seabed to spring up as much as 60
feet.
Gunungsitoli sustains vast damage
The Monday quake collapsed about 70 percent of houses and buildings in
the town of Gunungsitoli, said police Sgt. Zulkifli Sirait.
The MISNA missionary news agency in Rome, Italy, reported that a huge
fire was raging early Tuesday in Gunungsitoli.
"From the window I see very high flames," MISNA quoted Father Raymond
Laia as saying by telephone about two miles from the town. "The town
is completely destroyed. I repeat, the town is completely destroyed."
Another police officer, who identified himself as Nainggolan, said
rescuers were trying to pull people out of the rubble, and that many
were still panicking because of several aftershocks.
"We are busy now trying to pull people or bodies of children from the
collapsed building," said Nainggolan, who like many Indonesians uses
only one name. "It is very hard also because there is no power."
`Extreme panic'
Agus Mendrofa, deputy district head on Nias island, told el-Shinta
radio that 296 people were killed. He said this figure was based on
reports from humanitarian workers on the island.
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"We still cannot count the number of casualties or the number of
collapsed buildings because it is dark here," Sirait said in a
telephone interview. "It is possible that hundreds of people trapped
in the collapsed buildings died."
Nias, a renowned surfing spot, was badly hit by the 9.0 earthquake and
subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26 that killed at least 175,000 people in
12 Indian Ocean nations and left 106,000 more missing. At least 340
residents of Nias perished, and 10,000 were left homeless.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially said Monday's quake, which
occurred at 11:09 p.m. local time (11:09 a.m. EST), measured a
magnitude of 8.2. A later reading put the magnitude at 8.7, said Paul
Earle, a USGS geophysicist.
Shocks and aftershocks
Indonesian officials said the quake's epicenter was 56 miles south of
the island of Simeulu, off Sumatra's western coast, and just north of
Nias. It was described by one of the agency's geologists as an
aftershock of the Dec. 26 quake.
An aftershock measuring 6.0 was reported in the same region nearly 30
minutes later, the USGS said.
Preliminary indications are that energy from the quake might be
directed toward the southwest, said Frank Gonzalez, an oceanographer
with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in
Seattle. He stressed that it was based on "very scanty information"
about the epicenter and magnitude.
In Banda Aceh, the Sumatran region hit hardest in December, the quake
briefly cut electricity. Thousands poured into the streets to flee
low-lying areas.
The only tsunami reported within four hours was a tiny one =97 less than
4 inches =97 at the Cocos Islands, 1,400 miles west of Australia,
meteorologists in Sydney said.
Tsunami warnings called off
Tsunami warnings were issued in Thailand, Japan and Sri Lanka,
although officials in Thailand later called it off for that country.
"The situation has returned to normal," the Thailand's Meteorological
Department said in a statement some five hours after the quake. "It is
safe now and the Meteorological Department has cancelled the
evacuation order. People can return home."
The West Coast-Alaska tsunami warning center said that if no tsunami
waves were observed in the region near the epicenter within three
hours, then it is likely that the danger would have passed.
"It seems this earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. If it had, the
tsunami would have hit the coastline of Sumatra by now," said Prihar
Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesia Geophysics Agency. "And if
there's no tsunami on the coastline near the epicenter of the quake,
there will not be one heading in the other direction."
Messages in minutes
The Tsunami Research Center at the University of Southern California
reported that last year's quake and tsunami led to greater
preparedness this time. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center notified
the U.S. State Department of the quake within one hour of when it
occurred.
The State Department, in turn, sent messages to the U.S. embassies in
Thailand, Myanmar, Jakarta, India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia,
Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius.
Sirens blared along Sri Lanka's devastated east coast as the
government warned seaside residents to evacuate immediately.
"The government has ordered coastal areas to move to higher ground. We
are giving priorities to eastern coast," said Brig. Daya Ratnayake,
the military spokesman. Low-lying coastal areas in Malaysia's northern
states also were being evacuated.
In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said U.S.
diplomatic missions in Asia and Africa are in "battle mode" so that
they can respond quickly to any contingency.
The International Red Cross in Geneva said its mobile phone systems
were down so it hadn't been able to talk to anyone on the ground in
Indonesia.
At the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which was
at the center of U.N. response to the Dec. 26 tsunami, Jamie
McGoldrick said, "What's going on is a mobilization of people away
from the coast." But he noted that the quake was "a weaker one than
before," on Dec. 26.
Still traumatized
In Banda Aceh, the quake lasted about two minutes and felt like gentle
swaying, like a rocking chair, causing people to feel dizzy. It woke
people up and sent them running into the street.
People grabbed small bags of clothes =97 in many cases likely all the
belongings they had left after the disaster =97 as they fled their tents
and homes. Many were crying and jumping into cars and onto motorbikes
and pedicabs, heading for higher ground.
Two women wearing prayer shawls and sarongs grabbed a fence and
chanted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great."
"People are still traumatized, still scared, they are running for
higher ground," said Feri, a 24-year-old recovery volunteer who goes
by one name.
The quake was felt as far away as Malaysia, about 300 miles from the
epicenter, sending panicked residents fleeing their apartments and
hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Penang after authorities activated fire alarms.
Officials issued a tsunami warning for residents of southern Thai
provinces, three months after a tsunami devastated parts of Indonesia
and other countries in the region.
Moderate depth
The quake occurred at a depth of 18.6 miles, and was centered 125
west-northwest of Sibolga, Sumatra, and 150 miles southwest of Medan,
Sumatra, the USGS said.
The depth does not mean a lot for a quake this large, Earle said,
calling it a near-surface earthquake and comparable to the one that
occurred Dec. 26.
After the Dec. 26 quake, the agency initially recorded the depth of
that temblor at six miles. Shallow earthquakes like that generally are
more destructive because the seismic energy is closer to the surface
and has less distance to travel.
Monday's quake was considered to be at a moderate depth. Tremors also
were felt throughout peninsular Malaysia's west coast, causing
thousands of residents to flee high-rise apartment buildings and
hotels. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major
damage there.
Jolted from bed
"I was getting ready for bed, and suddenly, the room started shaking,"
said Kuala Lumpur resident Jessie Chong. "I thought I was
hallucinating at first, but then I heard my neighbors screaming and
running out."
Police were evacuating many residents from low-lying coastal areas in
Malaysia's northern states of Penang and Kedah, said Penang Police
Chief Christopher Wan.
The USGS said the quake occurred on a segment of the same fault line
that triggered the magnitude-9 earthquake on Dec. 26, the world's
biggest in 40 years.
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