Major Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia, Tsunami Warning Issued
March 28, 2005
Major Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia, Tsunami Warning Issued
The U.S. Geological Survey has raised the magnitude of Monday’s earthquake that shook Southeast Asia today to 8.7.
March 28, 2005 – According to CNN, a major earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island today. Officials have issued a tsunami warning for as far away as Sri Lanka.
The U.S. Geological Survey is calling the earthquake a temblor. It was described by one of the agency’s geologists as an aftershock of the Dec. 26 quake and measured a magnitude of 8.2. The quake lasted for about two minutes, which is much longer than most of the daily aftershocks since Dec 26.
The USGS said the quake occurred on a segment of the same fault line that triggered the Dec. 26 quake.
Tsunami warnings were issued in Thailand, Japan and Sri Lanka. Authorities said it could take several hours to know whether the quake had generated a devastating tsunami.
"It’s likely there was a tsunami along the local coast of Indonesia," Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told CNN early Monday afternoon. The center is an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. McCreery also told CNN it could be several hours before it could be determined if other nations in the region would be hit with another tsunami.
"The government has ordered coastal areas to move to higher ground. We are giving priorities to eastern coast," said Brig. Daya Ratnayake, the military spokesman.
Low-lying coastal areas in Malaysia’s northern states also were being evacuated.
"People are still traumatized, still scared, they are running for higher ground," said Feri, a 24-year-old recovery volunteer.
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