Just days ago there was a huge earthquake south of New Zealand of magnitude 8.1, although it was far enough from land so there was little damage, but enough of a shake to wake people from their sleep 300miles away. I was going to blog about it but didn't get around to it. Today there has been an earthquake in Indonesia that is the largest on the planet in 40 years - a massive 8.9 magnitude, classed as a 'great earthquake', followed a few hours later by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in the same region. At this stage reports are coming back of large-scale devastation, BBC reporting thousands have been killed across southern Asia, not from the earthquake itself but from massive sea surges triggered by the earthquake. This would've directly hit a lot of legendary surfing camps like Nias, camps on the west of Sumatra, and on the Mentawi's. I'm trying to recall if anyone from the surf.co.nz forums are over there at the moment.
This map is from the US Geological Survey site. Details regarding the main earthquake are as follows:
Magnitude : 8.9
Date-Time : Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 00:58:50 (UTC)
Location : 3.298°N, 95.779°E
Depth : 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region : OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
Distances : 250 km (155 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Today's shallow, thrust-type earthquake occurred off the west coast of northern Sumatra at the interface between the India and Burma plates. In this region, the Burma plate is characterized by significant strain partitioning due to oblique convergence of the India and Australia plates to the west and the Sunda and Eurasian plates to the east. Off the west coast of northern Sumatra, the India plate is moving in a northeastward direction at about 5 cm per year relative to the Burma plate. Preliminary locations of larger aftershocks following today's earthquake show that approximately 1000 km of the plate boundary slipped as a result of the earthquake. Aftershocks are distributed along much of the shallow plate boundary between northern Sumatra (approximately 3 degrees north) to near Andaman Island (at about 14 degrees north).
Quoted from BBC: "Hundreds of fishermen are missing off India's southern coast, and there are reports of scores of bodies now being washed up on beaches. Night has fallen in Indonesia and communications remain difficult, particularly to the strife-torn region of Aceh where the main quake was followed by nine aftershocks. Reports speak of bodies being recovered from trees."
Note: The biggest of the quakes was reclassified to 9.0 magnitude and details now verified as follows:
Magnitude : 9.0
Date-Time : Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 00:58:53 (UTC)
Location : 3.267°N, 95.821°E
Depth : 30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program
Region : OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
Distances : 250 km (155 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Nereus | December 26, 2004 10:35 PM | Reply
The magnitude has been reassessed by the USGS to 9.0 for the main quake. Over 10,000 people lost their lives at the most recent count.
Nereus | December 28, 2004 12:01 AM | Reply
Bah. There's apparently 24,000 dead now and one third of them are children. Thousands more are unaccounted for so that figure may rise still. There are many smaller islands that have not even been reached yet since the tsunamis hit, and in some cases entire communities may have been completely wiped out.
Nereus | December 28, 2004 2:11 PM | Reply
..Ouch. The BBC is now reporting more than 50,000 dead. From back home, the New Zealand Herald is reporting that of about 600 NZers in the area, only 200 have been accounted for so far.
There will be a heap of surfers particularly in the more remote areas that will have got nailed big time. :(
danny UK | December 29, 2004 4:44 AM | Reply
as there were dramatic tidal irregularities (2 high and 2 low tides in 6 hours) before the waves struck, hopefully surfers would have realised someting was up and headed in land...at least those that are from the pacific would have known that this indicates that a tsunami is on the way....
Nereus | December 29, 2004 10:19 AM | Reply
Yeah, well I certainly would have. The sea level suddenly dropping and exposing 200m of previously unexposed beach is a sure sign of a tidal wave on the way; I would've been running for high ground as soon as that happened. My g/f on the other hand who has lived in NYC the last 9 years and Russia before that did not know about the tidal wave signs, and most likely many of the tourists over there didn't either, particularly those who come from land-locked areas. The other problem is that in some areas the tidal irregularities you speak of happened before dawn, so many weren't aware of those signs (including surfers) and the only sign would've been the sudden drop in sea level just prior to the tidal wave itself hitting unfortunately. Of course in some of the smaller islands like some of the many islands under the dominion of the Maldives, there was nowhere to run to, entire islands being completely swamped. I didn't know until yesterday that in the Maldives the average height of land above sea level is only like 2 metres over the entire Maldives island chain. There's helicopters making passes over some of the more remote island resorts and there's no sign of life at all in some cases, entire communities just being wiped off the map so to speak.
The saying goes if you see a tidal wave from the beach then it's too late for you.. I dont think that's really true though, perhaps as a generalization. Of course there's also natural stupidity to take into account. You'd think surfers would certainly know what a sudden drop in sea level means, but years ago when one was predicted to hit in Auckland, New Zealand, there were idiots lining up on the waterfront to watch it come in, and surfers out in the water waiting for it (in Auckland harbour).. I couldn't believe it when that happened, I thought kiwis had better water-sense than that.
Nereus | December 29, 2004 10:41 AM | Reply
A train in Sri Lanka was hit by the tidal waves, killing at least 800 people, likely more.
About 68,000 people have so far been confirmed dead and the death toll continues to rise.
Nereus | December 29, 2004 11:01 AM | Reply
I saw an image on BBC of a resort in Phuket with the subtitle of 'life returns to normal at tourist resort' and these farking tourists out sunbathing and swimming in the pool while being waited on by locals weilding trays of drinks.. I got angry. There's people suffering and in desperate need of help not 10 minutes away and these motherf*ckers are just sitting on their fat selfish a$$es not lifting a finger to help. Sheesh people pi$$ me off. What's worse is that these a$$wipes survived when others probably more deserving and appreciative of life perished. I'd love to have a few words in a dark alley with those prats.
Nereus | December 29, 2004 2:17 PM | Reply
Nice one, bastards. From CNN:
"Faye Wachs said she was impressed by the efforts of the Thai government and the International Committee for the Red Cross, but "she was appalled at the treatment they got" from the U.S. government, her mother said.
At the airport in Bangkok, other governments had set up booths to greet nationals who had been affected and to help repatriate them, she said.
That was not the case with the U.S. government, Wachs told her mother. It took the couple three hours, she said, to find the officials from the American consulate, who were in the VIP lounge.
Because they had lost all their possessions, including their documentation, they had to have new passports issued.
But the U.S. officials demanded payment to take the passport pictures, Helen Wachs said."
Nereus | December 29, 2004 5:21 PM | Reply
hmm there goes another earthquake about 30 minutes ago in the same area, this one of 5.7 magnitude. These aftershocks must be giving everyone the shits, especially significant ones like this happening still, nearly four days later! Details:
Magnitude : 5.7
Date-Time : Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 21:12:59 (UTC)
Location : 5.202°N, 94.713°E
Depth : 25.8 km (16.0 miles)
Region : NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances : 76 km (47 miles) WSW (244�) from Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Nereus | December 29, 2004 5:24 PM | Reply
Details of the 6.2 aftershock earthquake nearly a day ago as follows:
Magnitude : 6.2
Date-Time : Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 05:56:50 (UTC)
Location : 8.781°N, 93.218°E
Depth : 30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program
Region : NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
Distances : 90 km (55 miles) N of Misha, Nicobar Islands, India
I hope they don't get another really big one.
Nereus | December 30, 2004 10:34 AM | Reply
Damn it just keeps getting worse..
New figures reveal at least 114,000 people died in Sunday's ocean disaster. Officials in Indonesia say the number killed there is now nearly 80,000 and the death toll from the worst-hit area is set to rise still higher.