Indonesia issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday after a massive and shallow natural disaster struck off the west coast of its island of Sumatra, a region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami.
Advertisement
Shallow earthquakes are more likely to cause damage, but the USGS said the quake was located far from land, about 409 miles from the town of Muara Siberut. However, the US Geological Survey (USGS) revised the magnitude down to 7.8.
Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning for West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh.
Al Jazeera reported that people ran from their homes in the immediate aftermath of the quake, fleeing to higher ground by motorbike, auto and on foot.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology issued a marine warning for distant Cocos and Christmas islands.
In 2004, an 8.9 magnitude quake triggered the world’s most lethal ever tsunami, killing more than 200,000 individuals.
“So far, based on our monitoring and reports, there are no damages”, West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno said in a phone call interview with BeritaSatu TV.
The chief of the Agency for Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics said the tremblor had a magnitude of 7.8 and urged citizens near coastal areas to stay away from the shore.
A 9.15-magnitude quake opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean on Boxing Day 2004, triggering a 57ft-high wave that crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries to wipe some communities off the map in seconds.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where the meeting of continental plates causes strong seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes. Authorities delayed the lifting of their tsunami warning because of the inoperable buoys, which cost around $2.3 million a year to maintain.
Advertisement
Authorities said a tsunami was unlikely, though National Disaster Management Agency chief Bambang Sulistyo said he still could not contact its office in the Mentawai Islands.
