Another Tsunami kills in Indonesia -

[Martin]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/17/D8ITN1F09.html

Quake Triggers Indonesian Tsunami; 5 Dead
Jul 17 7:11 AM US/Eastern


By CHRIS BRUMMITT
Associated Press Writer
JAKARTA, Indonesia

A powerful earthquake sent a 6-foot-high tsunami crashing into a beach resort on Indonesia's Java island Monday, killing at least five people and causing extensive damage to hotels, restaurants and homes, the president and witnesses said.

People ran up a hill to escape the wave on Pangandaran beach in west Java, a woman who identified herself only as Teti told el-Shinta radio station.


"All the houses are destroyed along the beach," she said. "Small hotels are completely destroyed and at least one restaurant was washed away."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters that at least five people were killed.

The tsunami followed a quake that struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean 150 miles southwest of Java's western coast at 3:24 p.m. local time, causing tall buildings to sway as far off as the capital Jakarta.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.2, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was followed by a 6.1-magnitude aftershock two hours later.

Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said he had heard reports about a tsunami striking two seaside towns, and urged people living on Java's southern coast to move inland in an orderly fashion.

"Everyone should move from the beach," he told el-Shinta.
The earthquake had triggered a tsunami warning on Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands and Australia's Christmas and Cocos islands.
"There is a possibility of a destructive local tsunami in the Indian Ocean," Japan's Meteorological Agency said in a statement.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a similar bulletin.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the so- called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed at least 216,000 people, nearly half of them in Indonesia's Aceh province. On May 27, a magnitude-5.9 earthquake devastated a large swath of Java Island, killing more than 5,800 people.

[Swiss Miss]

It's a shame this news is being overshadowed by the Israel and Lebanon situation. These poor people never seem to get a break. :(

[Swiss Miss]

Damn double poster! :-P (Sorry I hit the submit button twice I guess)

[waltky]

Here we go again...

Massive 8.2 Quake Rocks Sumatra; Triggers Tsunami Warnings
September 12, 2007 - A massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake in west cost off Indonesia's Sumatra island, has triggered tsunami alerts in several countries in the Indian Ocean region Wednesday.

The powerful quake, was felt in neighboring Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand where buildings shook and people panicked. Anything over 7.0 magnitude is believed to be capable of generating a tsunami and can cause damage to properties and loss of life. The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami alert was in effect for the entire Indian Ocean area including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives. All these countries were affected by the devastating Christmas 2004 Asian tsunami.

Four buildings were reported to have collapsed in the Indonesian town of Mukomuko on the west coast of Sumatra Wednesday, which is located 180 miles from the quake's epicenter. Several other buildings also showed serious damage. Budi Darmawan, a local policeman said, "Those with cracks are many, buildings of three floors or more are either fissured or collapsed," he said. In Bangkok, Thailand, authorities told the people to be on alert for possible tsunami. Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center said, "There is a high opportunity for a tsunami to happen. We are warning people to closely monitor the situation."

Smith Thammararoj, head of the center, said the effects of the 7.9-magnitude quake off Sumatra had been felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok. About 5,400 people were killed in Thailand, roughly half of them foreign holidaymakers, when a tsunami caused by a massive quake off Indonesia's coast ripped across the Indian Ocean in December 2004. The Malaysian Meteorological Department quickly issued a tsunami alert and advised people in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Penang to move away from beaches as a safety precaution. Tremors were felt in parts of the west coast of peninsular Malaysia when the quake struck.

Massive 8.2 Quake Rocks Sumatra; Triggers Tsunami Warnings | September 12, 2007 | AHN

See also:

Rescuers bound for Sumatra quake
Thursday, 13 September 2007, Powerful aftershocks hit Sumatra; Padang suffered considerable damage

A second strong earthquake has hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a day after an 8.4 magnitude tremor destroyed buildings in several towns and cities. At least six people are confirmed dead, but officials fear bad communications may be hiding the scale of the impact. Wednesday's quake was measured by US officials as magnitude 8.4, and a new tremor of 7.7 hit on Thursday. Many buildings, weakened in the first tremor, are now reported to have been destroyed in the city of Padang.

"Many buildings collapsed after this morning's quake," mayor Fauzi Bahar told a local radio station. "We're still trying to find out about victims." Three people are reported trapped in a collapsed three-storey office building, the mayor said. But despite several warnings since the first earthquake, there have so far been no tsunamis.

The initial quake sparked warnings across the Indian Ocean, but only a small wave surge hit Sumatra, causing little damage. A new tsunami warning came into force on Thursday morning, after the latest aftershock, but it was withdrawn two hours later. However, a fresh warning has now been issued, after another magnitude 6.7 aftershock.

Buildings destroyed

[waltky]

Relief workers shaken by more tremors...

Relief Efforts Begin in Indonesian Quake Zone
13 September 2007 - Relief efforts are underway on Indonesia's Sumatra Island after the country was hit by four powerful earthquakes and a succession of large aftershocks in less than 24 hours. The tremors toppled buildings, killed several people and injured dozens more.

Government and international emergency teams headed to Sumatra to survey the earthquake damage and help those in need. Officials say dozens have been injured, several people killed, and many buildings have been destroyed. Sutrisno, the head of Indonesia's National Disaster Coordinating Agency, says representatives of various government ministries are already on the scene.

"They will have a meeting with the vice governor there and they are going to make also a rapid, very rapid assessment regarding a needs assessment and damage assessment ... But meanwhile, we are also in here still collecting the food for the relief assistance, like food and medicine, and we will send there by special aircraft, by Hercules," said Sutrisno.

Sumatra has been jolted by four powerful earthquakes since late Wednesday. The U.S. Geological Survey says the first was centered about 105 kilometers southwest of Bengkulu, a major city on Sumatra's southwestern coast. At a magnitude of 8.4, it was the most powerful earthquake to strike anywhere in the world this year.

Two more quakes followed early Thursday - the first of 7.9 magnitude, and a second several hours later measured 7.1. There have also been more than 20 sizable aftershocks, all situated along the coastline between Bengkulu and the city of Padang. A fourth serious quake struck late Thursday north of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, far to the east of Sumatra.

More VOA News - Relief Efforts Begin in Indonesian Quake Zone

[waltky]

No end to the aftershocks...

More Quakes Rock Indonesia; Foreshadow 'The Big One'
Fri, Sep. 14 2007 - Indonesia has been hit by more than 40 aftershocks since a massive 8.4-magnitude earthquake shook Southeast Asia Wednesday, and seismologists warned that the worst may be yet to come.

On Friday, Indonesia's meteorology agency issued the latest in a series of tsunami warnings after another strong quake shook Indonesia’s Sumatra island, although it was lifted about an hour later. The U.S. Geological Survey measured one Friday aftershock jolting the area at magnitude 6.4. There have been a series of tremors ranging in intensity from 4.9 to 7.8 since Wednesday's 8.4 quake, according to Reuters, repeatedly setting off tsunami warnings in Indian Ocean countries.

There have been no reports, however, of the sort of widespread tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen Indian Ocean nations after the 9.0-magnitude temblor in 2004. But experts have been predicting a repeat of the deadly earthquake. Kerry Sieh of the California Institute of Technology, who has spent decades studying the fault line in the area, said these temblors could be leading up to the big one.

"No one can say whether it will be in 30 seconds or 30 years," Sieh said, according to The Associated Press. "But what happened the other day, I think is quite possibly a sequence of smaller earthquakes leading up to the bigger one." Danny Hillman, an earthquake specialist at the Indonesian Institute of Science, also believes there is a “strong indication” that the latest string of quakes “foreshadows the big one.” "We all agree there is an 8.5 or stronger earthquake waiting to happen," he told AP.

Relief Efforts

See also:

More than 15,000 buildings damaged in Indonesian earthquakes
15 Sep 2007, More than 15,000 buildings collapsed or were seriously damaged by a series of massive earthquakes striking Indonesia's Sumatra, authorities said on Saturday as the death toll rose to 17.

An initial 8.4-magnitude quake struck at dusk off Sumatra's west coast on Wednesday and was followed by a series of major aftershocks, jolting the coastal provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra most severely. In Bengkulu, nearly 2,000 houses were totally flattened and nearly 4,000 others badly damaged, said Bowo Santoso from the governor's disaster rescue centre. About 90 local hospitals and clinics were also damaged, he added.

In West Sumatra, more than 9,700 houses collapsed or were too badly damaged to be inhabitable, said Suryadi from the disaster rescue centre there. More than 100 mosques and about 20 school buildings were also damaged, he said. Meanwhile Hercules transport planes were to try to drop aid on several islands in the Mentawai group off Sumatra which were badly hit by the quake and a small tsunami, said an official in the city of Padang.

Frans Karel, an official on Pagai Utara island, said no aid had yet been received and many frightened villagers were still sheltering in the hills. "We haven't yet received aid. All the kiosks have collapsed and their food stocks are wet," he said. "Almost 75 per cent of houses on the coastline along a 10-kilometre stretch are badly damaged and collapsed."

Source

[waltky]

Sounds like the end times are upon us...

Weather disasters 'getting worse'
Sunday, 25 November 2007, Flooding has increased six-fold since the 1980s, the report says

The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled over the past 20 years and the world should do more to prepare for them, the aid agency Oxfam says.

Population increases mean more people are affected when catastrophic weather events take place, it says in a report. Global warming is to blame for the growing number of weather disasters, Oxfam adds.

An average of 500 such disasters are now taking place each year, compared to 120 in the 1980s, the report says. The number of floods has increased six-fold over the same period.

Small disasters ignored

[waltky]

Whole lot o' shakin' goin' on...

Mysterious Earthquakes Off Oregon
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2008 — Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption — except there are no volcanoes in the area.

Scientists don't know exactly what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of molten rock rumbling away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said Robert Dziak, a geophysicist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University. There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4, and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported.

On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land. The hydrophones are left over from a network the Navy used to listen for submarines during the Cold War. They routinely detect passing ships, earthquakes on the ocean bottom and whales calling to one another.

Scientists hope to send out an OSU research ship to take water samples, looking for evidence that sediment has been stirred up and chemicals that would indicate magma is moving up through the Juan de Fuca Plate, Dziak said. The quakes have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.

The Earth's crust is made up of plates that rest on molten rock, which are rubbing together. When the molten rock, or magma, erupts through the crust, it creates volcanoes. That can happen in the middle of a plate. When the plates lurch against each other, they create earthquakes along the edges. In this case, the Juan de Fuca Plate is a small piece of crust being crushed between the Pacific Plate and North America, Dziak said.

Source