Sunday, May 9, 2010

7.4-magnitude Earthquake Hits Bandar Aceh, Indonesia.

Indonesia has issued a local tsunami alert after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the province of Aceh.

The quake struck offshore, 214km (133 miles) south-east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

It had a depth of 61.4km, the USGS said.

The site is very near that of 2004's 9.2 magnitude earthquake. About 220,000 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami the quake triggered.

The epicentre of the latest quake was about 66km (41 miles) south-west of Meulaboh district, Indonesia's earthquake agency said.

The district, and other parts of Aceh, were devastated in the 26 December 2004 earthquake.

Ring of Fire

The quake hit at 9 of May, 2010, 01:59:44 (GMT+08:00). Local media reported some houses were damaged, Associated Press news agency said.

There was thought to be no threat of a destructive, widespread tsunami, said the USGS.

"However there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100km from the earthquake epicentre," Reuters news agency quoted the USGS as saying.

Indonesia is located on the volatile Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of tectonic activity girdling the Pacific Ocean that triggers earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Aceh is on the north-western tip of Sumatra, one of Indonesia's main islands, and is frequently rocked by earthquakes.

One last year killed more than 1,000 people on the island.

About 170,000 people were killed in Aceh from the 2004 earthquake and the tsunami it launched.

The waves spread across the Indian Ocean to cause death and destruction as far away as Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand.

Reference: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8670593.stm

No comments:

Post a Comment