8.4 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Indonesia - Tsunami Warnings Issued

The quake that was originally reported as a 8.0 has now been downgraded to a 7.5. Still very strong quake.


USGS: Magnitude 7.5 - KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
2007 September 12 23:49:01 UTC

reply to post by Hellmutt


Confirmed at 7.9, our military is heading out to Cocos and Christmas Island now

reply to post by Chonx


Will keep everyone updated as to what is happening as I work for the people who are responsible for putting out the warnings

take at look at this link

earthquake.usgs.gov...

we've had 3 major earthquake, the last one just happening

7.5 the last
6.0 major aftershock
8.5 this morning

and several sizeable aftershock throughout the day.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


thankyou please do, that must be a very interesting and responsible position.

Has this ever happened before in this area -- 3 earthquakes in one day?
Granted one qualifies as an aftershock but still... what's going on here?

reply to post by Chonx


Sorry we just got a confirmation that it was 7.8 but that may continue to change. A couple of our islands are at a minimal threat but most the models show that it wont be a huge tsunami if there is one

reply to post by Palasheea


smaller one was an aftershock but the 7.9 was a completely different quake. Happened slightly north of the one that occured last night (last night my time)

Just figured I'd add a little tidbit I learned in my natural disasters class (hooray for a GPA booster). Apparently, the strength of the earthquake is not the prominent factor in creating a tsunami. Rather, it is the size of the piece of ocean floor that gets disrupted. If a strong quake does not sink a very large piece of crust into the ocean, there is littler risk of a tsunami. However, even a moderate quake, if the conditions are right, can shift a huge piece of the ocean floor. This will result in massive tsunami. Unfortunately, we have no way to immediately assess the goings on of the ocean floor, so we are stuck with buoys and wave meters as tools to warn of impeding disaster. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the determinant factor of a tsunami is not the earthquake itself.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


good news, lets hope the models are accurate.

so, how rare is a period of activity like this???

reply to post by Chonx


Not sure really. We are the Weather Bureau so we are only responsible for putting out Tsunami warnings. Better off asking someone from a Geology department or something

Thanks OzWeatherman for the updates! Great that you're here because this latest news you are sharing with us is not even anywhere on the internet yet!

Also thanks Wu for the information about tsunami's.... good to know!

reply to post by WuTang


Trust me, a large earthquake in this area will sink the crust!

earthquake.usgs.gov...

This service just upgraded from 7.5 to 7.8. But the first time I logged on it was 8.0.
I'll go by OzWeatherman's 7.9 as he's right in area.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


Thanks for all the information OZ. It's good to have members that are close that can keep us posted and updated in real time.

This is been a real bad day for the folks in Indonesia. I hope and pray that their isn't a horrific loss of life through these events. My prayers go out to the folks in Indonesia that you all make it through this safely and to all the folks on the Indian Ocean basin that nothing terrible happens. They suffered enough in 2004 and after.

Another equally as strong quake just occurred. A Tsunami Warrning has been issued.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

There have been 14 Earthquakes and/or Aftershocks of 4.9 magnitude or greater in the past 2 two days in a very small area just of the coast of Sumatra. Here is the list from the USGS.

Earthquake List for 10-degree Map Centered at 5°S, 100°E
Update time = Thu Sep 13 01:37:23 UTC 2007

MAG, UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s, LAT deg, LON deg, DEPTH (km)
MAP 5.9 2007/09/13 01:26:37 -2.196 99.694 32.0
KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 7.8 2007/09/12 23:49:01 -2.526 100.964 10.0
KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 2007/09/12 23:19:44 -4.082 100.907 10.0
SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 2007/09/12 22:17:17 -2.897 100.757 10.0
KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.1 2007/09/12 22:02:23 -4.609 101.280 10.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.9 2007/09/12 16:37:00 -3.109 101.395 11.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 2007/09/12 15:35:05 -4.264 100.984 10.0
SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 6.0 2007/09/12 14:40:01 -3.227 101.358 10.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 4.9 2007/09/12 14:04:53 -4.263 101.152 10.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.3 2007/09/12 13:17:14 -3.334 100.620 10.0
KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.7 2007/09/12 13:02:03 -2.960 101.335 10.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 2007/09/12 12:21:44 -2.667 100.318 10.0
KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 8.4 2007/09/12 11:10:26 -4.517 101.382 30.0
SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.2 2007/09/07 23:56:23 -7.220 103.195 31.8
SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA

source:
USGS Earthquake Map List

FoxNews-Second Quake Rocks Indonesia

Snippet:
The U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday's tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 and was 125 miles from Bengkulu, a city on Sumatra, at a depth of six miles. Local officials said it had the potential to trigger a tsunami.

After Wednesday's 8.4-magnitude quake, frightened people fled their homes and ran inland, fearing a repeat of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami...

When G-d made Earth do you think the oil that was laid down long ago was for our survival in the long run? I'm not talking as a fuel source but as a coolant to the Earth, like in a large transformer? Let's hope Yellowstone's caldera does not blow.

Its all good now. We havnt had any sea level rises and the Tsunami warning has been cancelled, so all clear