A powerful earthquake struck late on Monday off the west coast of Indonesia, collapsing hundreds of buildings and sending thousands of people in several countries fleeing in panic that Asia’s second tsunami disaster within four months was imminent.
But fears of another catastrophe eased within hours, as officials in countries closest to the quake’s epicentre said there were no reports of waves striking their coasts three hours after the earthquake struck.
On Nias, a small Indonesian island close to the epicentre of the earthquake, officials said hundreds of buildings had collapsed and that injuries were likely because the earthquake struck close to midnight and many people were in their homes.
”Hundreds of buildings have been damaged or have collapsed,” said Gauss Mendrofa, the island’s deputy district head. ”People who were standing fell over. We’re not sure about casualties, but there may be people buried in the rubble.”
Indonesian officials said initial fears that the 8,7-magnitude quake would be followed within a few minutes by huge waves crashing ashore — as occurred in Sumatra just over three months ago — appeared to be unfounded.
”It seems this earthquake did not trigger a tsunami,” Prihar Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesia Geophysics Agency, said about three hours after the quake. ”If it had, the tsunami would have hit the coastline of Sumatra by now. And if there’s no tsunami on the coastline near the epicenter of the quake, there will not be one heading in the other direction.”
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said authorities can assume the danger has passed if no tsunami waves are observed in the region near the epicentre within three hours of the earthquake.
Still, warning sirens blared along Sri Lanka’s east coast and the government urged people to evacuate immediately to higher ground.
”It’s still not clear if a tsunami will hit but we are taking all precautionary measures,” President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on state television.
On December 26, the tsunami crashed onto coastlines in Indonesia’s Aceh province within 45 minutes of the massive earthquake hitting offshore. Sri Lanka was hit several hours later as the waves travelled the breadth of the Indian Ocean.
The US Geological Survey measured Monday’s at magnitude 8,7 and said it was an aftershock of the 9,0 quake in December that sent giant waves crashing into Indian Ocean rim coastlines, killing more than 125 000 people in 11 countries. More than 100 000 people remain missing, and more than 1,5-million were left homeless.
Monday’s quake, while still very powerful, was substantially weaker than the December 26 quake. An 8,0 earthquake releases energy equal to about 6,2-million tons of TNT. But a 9,0 earthquake is equal to nearly 100-million tons of exploding TNT.
The epicentre of Monday’s temblor was 250 kilometres (155 miles) south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and more than 10 kilometres (six miles) under the seabed of the Indian Ocean, the USGS reported.
In Banda Aceh, the quake cut electricity and thousands of people poured into the streets, most getting into vehicles to flee low-lying areas.
The quake lasted for about two minutes — far longer than most of the daily aftershocks that have rocked Sumatra since December 26.
”People are still traumatised, still scared, they are running for higher ground,” said Feri, a 24-year-old recovery volunteer who like many Indonesian goes by one name.
The panic gripped at least one camp in Banda Aceh where tsunami survivors have been living. An Associated Press photographer described thousands of people fleeing their tents at the camp known as TVRI, some crying out ”Alahu Akbar!” or ”God is great.
But, with nowhere to go, they milled in crowds along the road.
”Where can I go, you can’t outrun a tsunami,” said one man.
Police with megaphones walked up and down the road, asking people not to panic and to return to their tents. After a while, many started moving back inside.
In Sri Lanka, Saman Perera of the government’s Geological Survey said his agency had issued a ”national warning of an impending natural disaster,” though he said the alert was issued as a precaution not because a tsunami had been reported.
The quake was felt as far away as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, more than 700-kilometres (435 miles) miles from the epicentre. In Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur and Penang, fire alarms sent panicked residents fleeing their apartments and hotels.
In Singapore, residents of high-rise apartments as the buildings swayed.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage.
Slight tremors were reported in the Thai capital of Bangkok, and officials issued a tsunami warning for residents in the country’s south, where more than 3 000 died in December. Officials said later the tsunami danger appeared to have passed.
In Washington, US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said American diplomatic missions in Asia and Africa are in ”battle mode” so that they can respond quickly to any contingency.
He said embassy officials in the area have been asking host governments to inquire about any causalities to permit an early US response if the situation calls for it.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency, which also recorded the quake, reportedly notified six Indian ocean countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Malaysia — about the possibility of tsunami waves.
Officials said after the December disaster that a tsunami early warning system could have saved countless lives. Such a system exists for the Pacific, but not the Indian Ocean.
Japan and the United States had planned to start providing tsunami warnings to countries around the Indian Ocean this month as a stopgap measure until the region establishes its own alert system.
The USGS said in a statement that the quake occurred on a segment of the same fault line that triggered December 26 earthquake, the world’s biggest in 40 years.
Dale Grant of USGS, based in Golden, Colorado, said the quake was ”very large, but it’s not unusual as an aftershock”. – Sapa-AP