sumatra earthquake 28 march 2005
A 8.5 magnitude aftershock three months after the December 2004 tsunami
28 March 2005
Today, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake occurred off the west coast of Sumatra the day after Easter. The tremors lasted for three minutes and caused indescribable panic among the population. Over a thousand deaths have already been recorded. This earthquake followed the 26 December 2004 tsunami, which occurred on Christmas Day and killed 273,000 people.
Location of the earthquake
Despite the fact that the epicenter of this new event is near that of the 26 December one (150 km to the southeast) and although 8.7 is a high value on the Richter scale (ten times less violent than the 2004 event), there was no tsunami. Geophysicists say there are several reasons. They believe that the fault slip occurred at a greater depth in the Earth's crust. Moreover, they say that the slip may have occurred in a horizontal direction and that the uplift of the seabed would have been much smaller. It is the uplift of the seabed that causes the tsunami.
Nothing else can be said that is relevant. In particular, it is impossible to say that the event of 26 December could not be followed by other events of the same kind, nor what the scale of these could be. One can imagine the catastrophic impact of this threat on the recovery of the country's main activity: tourism.
5 September 2005: It continues...
Monday, 5 September 2005, 5:37
A strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia
DJAKARTA (AP) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale shook eastern Indonesia on Monday at around 8 a.m. local time (0000 GMT), according to American and Hong Kong seismologists. No casualties or damage were reported immediately.
The tremor, whose epicenter was located under the sea of Manado, northeast of the island of Sulawesi, said the U.S. Geological Survey and the Hong Kong observatory.
Indonesian seismologists recorded the tremor at a magnitude of 6.2 without explaining the reason for the discrepancy with other recordings. AP
Monday, 5 September 2005, 5:37
A strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia
DJAKARTA (AP) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale shook eastern Indonesia on Monday at around 8 a.m. local time (0000 GMT), according to American and Hong Kong seismologists. No casualties or damage were reported immediately.
The tremor, whose epicenter was located under the sea of Manado, northeast of the island of Sulawesi, said the U.S. Geological Survey and the Hong Kong observatory.
Indonesian seismologists recorded the tremor at a magnitude of 6.2 without explaining the reason for the discrepancy with other recordings. AP
6 September 2005
Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 4:21
A strong earthquake shakes eastern Taiwan
DJAKARTA (AP) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan on Tuesday, announced the central meteorological bureau. No casualties or damage were reported immediately.
The epicenter of the tremor was located under the ocean, 63 km off the coast of Hualien, a city in the southeast of the island, 180 km from the capital Taipei.
The earthquake caused buildings in Taipei to sway and was felt throughout Taiwan. AP
Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 4:21
A strong earthquake shakes eastern Taiwan
DJAKARTA (AP) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan on Tuesday, announced the central meteorological bureau. No casualties or damage were reported immediately.
The epicenter of the tremor was located under the ocean, 63 km off the coast of Hualien, a city in the southeast of the island, 180 km from the capital Taipei.
The earthquake caused buildings in Taipei to sway and was felt throughout Taiwan. AP
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