Strong quake rocks Indonesia's Sulawesi

A strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit off the western coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi island Tuesday, seismologists said, reportedly causing some residents to rush out of buildings despite rain.

Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics office said the quake that struck at 1:56 pm (0556 GMT) was centered 104 kilometers (65 miles) northwest of Majene town in South Sulawesi at a depth of 44 kilometers under the seabed.

The United States Geological Survey measured the quake at 5.9.

The quake was felt in Majene as well as the South Sulawesi capital Makassar and on towns along the eastern coast of Borneo's Kalimantan, more than 200 kilometers west of the epicenter, meteorologist Novita told Agence France-Presse.

She said there were no immediate reports of damage.

Okezone.com news website reported that residents in Makassar poured out of buildings into the rain for about 10 minutes after feeling the tremor.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.



Magnitude 5.9
Date-Time
*Tuesday, February 05, 2008 at 05:56:51 UTC
*Tuesday, February 05, 2008 at 01:56:51 PM at epicenter
Location 3.498°S, 118.117°E
Depth 44.8 km (27.8 miles)
Region SULAWESI, INDONESIA
Distances
235 km (145 miles) NW of Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi, Indonesia
285 km (180 miles) SSE of Balikpapan, Kalimantan, Indonesia
345 km (215 miles) SW of Palu, Sulawesi, Indonesia
1290 km (800 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia



_©Inquirer

Magnitude 5.7
Date-Time
*Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 01:29:39 UTC
*Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 08:29:39 AM at epicenter
Location 2.878°S, 101.288°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances
145 km (90 miles) NW of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
235 km (145 miles) SSE of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
540 km (335 miles) SSW of SINGAPORE
705 km (435 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia



_©USGS

Indonesia Issues Tsunami Alert

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia briefly issued a tsunami alert Thursday after a strong earthquake rocked the east of the country.The country's geophysics agency said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.6, while the U.S. Geological Survey put the initial magnitude at 5.9. The quake struck 170 miles southwest of the Maluku island chain at a depth of six miles. The Indonesian agency initially put out a tsunami warning but retracted it after no waves came. There were no immediate reports of damage from the quake. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with a population of 235 million people, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. A magnitude-9 quake off Sumatra's coast in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.

_{Bron: Associated Press}

Het is erg onrustig in de regio rond Sumatra. Gisteren een aardbeving gemeld van 5,3 op de schaal van Righter.
Vandaag één met 7,5 op de schaal van Rigter.
Momenteel is er nog geen nieuws bekend over slachtoffers en een eventueel tsunamigevaar.

Magnitude 5.3
Date-Time
* Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 17:01:33 UTC
* Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 12:01:33 AM at epicenter
Location 2.386°S, 99.971°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
Distances 165 km (100 miles) SSW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
295 km (185 miles) WNW of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
640 km (395 miles) SSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
855 km (530 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

*Update*

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake struck western Indonesia on Wednesday, alarming residents and prompting a tsunami warning, official agencies and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, struck off the western coast of Sumatra island close to Simeulue island, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a posting on its Web site. There was an immediate tsunami warning issued, possibly because the quake was deep under the sea bed. Several callers told local radio station el-Shinta that the quake was felt strongly on Sumatra, but there was no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

*edit*

_{Bron: Associated Press}

Three dead, 25 hurt in Indonesia quake

An Indonesian offical says an earthquake which rocked Aceh province has killed three people, seriously injured 25 others and briefly sparked a tsunami alert. The US Geological Survey said the undersea quake struck at 3:08pm (local time), about 312 kilometres west-southwest of the North Sumatra capital Medan, at a depth of 34 kilometres.

Indonesia's meteorological agency put the initial magnitude at 6.6 but later upgraded it to 7.3. It said the quake struck 42 kilometres northwest of Sinabang, the main town on Simeulue island, off the west coast of Sumatra.

Aftershocks measuring 5.5 and 5.3 hit shortly afterwards, it said. Health ministry official Rustam Pakaya says people on Simeulue have evacuated to the mountains. Our staff on Simeulue are still closely monitoring the situation, he said.

Reports of panic, damage

Zainul Tahar, the head of Aceh's search and rescue office, said he had earlier spoken with officials at the port authority in Sinabang and was told there was no damage there, though the quake sparked mass panic. Yusran, a resident in Sukajaya village on Simeulue's east coast, told AFP by phone that no one had been injured there and buildings remained intact.

But people here are very shocked as the quake was very powerful, he added. In Banda Aceh, the quake was felt for about two minutes and people initially ran outside in panic, but quickly calmed down. ElShinta radio also quoted listeners as saying panic had hit the population in Medan, where people rushed out of buildings.

Tsunami fears

Brief tsunami alerts from the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Thailand's disaster warning centre were lifted about an hour after the quake. Indonesian forecaster Suharjono said there had been no tsunami potential as the quake's epicentre was close to the coastline rather than far out at sea. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

_©abc

Indonesians Clean Up After Deadly Quake

Villagers on a remote Indonesian island were returning from the hills to repair homes damaged by a powerful earthquake that killed three people and injured more than 50 others, officials said Thursday. Authorities were still tallying the wreckage on Simeule, but early reports said many buildings were damaged or destroyed. At least one major bridge also collapsed, said local government official Nirda Ihsan.

Those two quakes also caused damage on Simeule, which is home to around 75,000 people. Ihsan said many people on the island fled to higher ground after the quake fearing a tsunami. By Thursday, most had returned, he said.

"Many people are cleaning up their homes and fixing damaged furniture," he said.

It was not clear how the three people died. Media reports said most of the injuries occurred as people ran or jumped from swaying buildings.

_ABCnews

In de regio KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI, welke van de week getroffen werd door een aardbeving met de kracht van 7,5 op de schaal van Rigter blijft het onrustig:



Magnitude 5.7
Date-Time
* Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 23:55:36 UTC
* Friday, February 22, 2008 at 06:55:36 AM at epicenter
Location 2.314°S, 99.891°E
Depth 22 km (13.7 miles) set by location program
Region KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
Distances 160 km (100 miles) SSW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
310 km (190 miles) WNW of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
635 km (395 miles) SSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
870 km (540 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Strong earthquake rattles Sumatra
No immediate reports of damage from 6.6-magnitude temblor

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 rattled Indonesia's Sumatra island Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said, sending frightened residents running from their homes.

The quake struck at 9:46 p.m. local time (1446GMT) just off the coast of Bengkulu, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) west of the capital, Jakarta, the USGS said. It had a depth of around 35 kilometers (21.7 miles).

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, said Gian Ginanjar, an official at the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.

_©MSNBC



Magnitude 6.6
Date-Time
* Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 14:46:24 UTC
* Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 09:46:24 PM at epicenter
Location 2.307°S, 100.020°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
Distances
* 155 km (96 miles) SSW (194°) from Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
* 298 km (185 miles) WNW (303°) from Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
* 354 km (220 miles) SSW (207°) from Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia
* 584 km (363 miles) SW (227°) from SINGAPOREMagnitude

Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake Rocks Indonesia; Tsunami Warning in Effect

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning on Monday after a powerful quake struck off the western coast of Sumatra island.

The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, was centered in the Indian Ocean around 96 miles from the coastal town of Bengkulu, Indonesia's geophysics agency said in a statement. Residents in Bengkulu told el-Shinta radio station they felt the quake strongly, but that it did not appear to have caused major damage in the region, which late Sunday was also hit by a strong quake.

The geophysics agency issued a tsunami bulletin following the quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also warned the coastal communities around Bengkulu may be at risk of large waves. Indonesia does not have equipment to measure changes in sea level that would indicate an actual tsunami was on its way. Agencies routinely issue warnings after shallow offshore quakes with a magnitude of 6.5 or above strike.

The geophysics agency issued a tsunami bulletin following the quake, but canceled it an hour later after determining no waves were generated.

_©FOXnews