8.7 Earthquake Hits Off Coast Of Sumatra
The quake's magnitude was 8.7, according to a revised measurement from the US Geological Survey, and it struck 431 kilometres off the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, on Wednesday at 2.38pm (1838 AEST) and at a depth of 33 kilometres.
The US Geological Survey initially reported it as an 8.9-magnitude quake. Indonesian authorities measured the tremor at 8.5.
The latest tremor was felt as far afield as Thailand and southern India.According to the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, said Prihyadi, an official at the Indonesian Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency.
"We have issued tsunami warnings for Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra," said Prihyadi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.
But residents across Sumatra fled their homes in panic, local media reported.Residents in Banda Aceh reported the ground shaking violently."People are in a panic, and there are traffic jams everywhere in Banda Aceh," local Metro TV reported.
"There is potential for a tsunami to hit five provinces in the region - Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Lampung," said Marzuki, an analyst at Indonesia's Geophysics and Meteorology agency.
A tsunami watch was issued for India, the Seychelles, Somalia, Oman and South Africa as well.The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of the country.
Sri Lanka issues tsunami warning across the island.Thailand's disaster centre on Wednesday put provinces along the Andaman coastline on watch for a possible tsunami."We are still monitoring the situation but we've told the Andaman provinces to be on alert," the director of the National Disaster Centre, Somsak Kaosuwan, told Thai TV.Smith Dhamasoroja, of the National Disaster Warning Foundation, predicted that the earthquake was of such a magnitude that it would create a tsunami that will "definitely" reach Thailand."Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin," the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.The tsunami warning centre said it had not yet ascertained whether a tidal wave had been generated but that one was likely given the strength of the temblor, and advised local authorities to take "appropriate action".
On December 26, 2004 a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a catastrophic tsunami that wrought devastation across southern Asia, killing an estimated 220,000 people.Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing about 19,000 people.
© 2012 AP