Massive earthquake strikes Indonesia on September 12

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Shake map of the quake.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 has struck Indonesia and a tsunami is reported to have been generated. Some smaller aftershocks with magnitudes between 5.2 and 5.7 were also reported in the region. At least four have been killed and dozens injured.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a tsunami warning saying that the quake had the potential to "generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean."

"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along some coasts. Based on these data, the threat continues for all coastal areas of the Indian Ocean," said the NOAA tsunami warning.

The earthquake was recorded at 6:10 p.m. (local time), 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia with a depth of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) and the USGS states that damage could be "moderate to heavy."

Reports say that buildings shook heavily in Jakarta and that the quake could be felt as far away as Singapore and Thailand.

Sources

• "Indonesia raises total quake casualties". Reuters, September 12, 2007
• "Indonesia quake was 8.4 magnitude, says USGS". Reuters, September 12, 2007
• "Tsunami Warning 003 (Indian Ocean)". NOAA, September 12, 2007
• "Powerful Quake Hits Indonesia". Associated Press, September 12, 2007
• "Magnitude 8.0 quake hits Sumatra". Reuters, September 12, 2007
• "Magnitude 7.9 - SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA". USGS, September 12, 2007
• "Tsunami Warning 001 (Indonesia)". NOAA, September 12, 2007
• "Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World - Past 7 Days". USGS, September 12, 2007
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.