Small tsunamis hit Indonesian coast,
tsunami warnings lifted
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Aceh people run shortly after a powerful earthquake hit western coast of Sumatra in Banda Aceh on Apr 11, 2012. -PHOTO: AFP
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - A huge earthquake and strong aftershocks struck off Indonesia's
Sumatra island on Wednesday, triggering an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert that sent terrified people
fleeing from the coast.
The 8.6-magnitude quake hit 431km off the city of Banda Aceh at 0838 GMT, and was followed by
another undersea quake measured at 8.2, the US Geological Survey said.
Panicky residents poured into the streets of Banda Aceh, which was near the epicentre of a 9.1-magnitude
quake in 2004 that unleashed an Indian Ocean tsunami which killed 220,000 people including 170,000 in
Aceh province.
Wednesday's quake was felt as far afield as Thailand, where skyscrapers in the capital Bangkok swayed.
India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Reunion Island, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar all issued alerts or
evacuation orders.
Small tsunamis hit Indonesia and Thailand, with waves of up to 80cm in Aceh, but there were no reports of
damage or casualties.
US seismologists then cancelled the tsunami warning, saying the quakes had generated only small waves
and were nowhere near the scale of the disasters that struck Asia in 2004 and Japan last year.
But in Banda Aceh, there were chaotic scenes as people grabbed their families and raced through crowded
streets, with motorbikes and cars jostling for space.
'There are people trying to evacuate, some are praying and children at a school were panicking as teachers
tried to get them out,' an AFP correspondent in Banda Aceh said.
'There are traffic jams everywhere as people are trying to get away from the coast - many are on
motorcycles,' he said, adding that telephone connections and electricity were patchy.
Television images showed hundreds gathering at a large mosque in Banda Aceh, many weeping and
searching for family members. Women and girls draped head-to-toe in white were praying on mats laid out
on the ground.
Sri Lanka issued a tsunami warning across the island and the disaster management centre asked residents
on the coast to move inland to avoid being hit by any large waves.
In the capital Colombo, nervous crowds gathered on the streets after the strong quake.
'There was a first jolt for five seconds, then a pause and then a really big one. It was really frightening, the
whole room was shaking,' said 42-year-old tourist Maria Teresa Pizarro from the Philippines.
'You could hear the wood in the furniture cracking, the curtains were moving and the ceiling fan was
rattling. I just picked up the children and ran downstairs,' she said from the city's seafront Galle Face hotel.
Thailand issued an evacuation order for its Andaman coast, a popular tourist destination, and flights to the
tourist island of Phuket were diverted to other airports as passengers and staff were evacuated to higher
ground.
A small tsunami measuring just 10cm reached the coast but authorities remained on alert.
'We cannot be complacent,' said Somsak Khaosuwan, the director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning
Centre, noting there had been several powerful aftershocks. 'So we are maintaining the warning.'
Australian Bonnie Muddle, vacationing in the Thai resort island of Phuket, said people were evacuated
from popular tourist areas including Krabi and Phang Nga bay.
'All the local villagers are up on the hill,' she told AFP. 'Some boats have just left the dock and are
anchoring out (which is) supposedly safer.' India issued a red high-level tsunami warning for the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian Ocean, and lower alerts for several other eastern coastal states,
but later downgraded the warning.
The catastrophic tsunami of Dec 26, 2004, was generated by a 9.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in the
ocean about 200km away from Wednesday's initial quake.
An expert with the British Geological Survey said the tsunamis were small because the quakes' movement
was horizontal, not vertical, and caused no drop in the sea floor, which is what triggers tsunamis.
'Although an earthquake of this magnitude has the potential to cause a large tsunami, ... we haven't seen
any drop of the sea floor, which is what generates the wave,' seismologist Susanne Sargeant told AFP.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000
people.
The latest Indonesian quakes occurred in a notoriously seismic area, where the Indian tectonic plate
descends into the Earth beneath the Eurasian plate.
Indian Ocean on tsunami watch after
Sumatra quake: US centre
Published on Apr 11, 2012

Acehnese people run shortly after a powerfull earthquake hit western coast of Sumatera in Banda Aceh on April 11, 2012. A
massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, US and Indonesian monitors reported, prompting an Indian
Ocean-wide tsunami alert. -- PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US seismologists issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch following a
massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday but said it appeared to have only generated
small waves.
The 8.6-magnitude earthquake was followed by a massive aftershock, measuring 8.2, off the Indonesian
island, raising a new tsunami threat.
Mr Victor Sardina, a geophysicist with the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, told AFP the
first tsunami was 'not anywhere near' as large as the devastating waves that struck Asia in 2004 and Japan
last year.
He said the tsunami measured a mere 35cm near Padang, Indonesia, but could swell to as high as a metre
near Sri Lanka, adding that US scientists were still carefully monitoring the situation.
Earlier, the center said 'earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive
tsunami.' The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in a bulletin after the quake added that 'sea level readings
indicate a tsunami was generated. It may already have been destructive along some coasts.' 'Based on these
data the threat continues for all coastal areas of the Indian Ocean,' the Hawaii based center said.
The first quake struck at 2.38pm (4.38pm) at a depth of 33km with its epicenter some 435kmfrom Banda
Aceh.
The US Geological Survey said the aftershock struck at 6.43pm, 615km from Banda Aceh.
The area was one of the hardest-hit from the Dec 26, 2004 quake and subsequent tsunami that wrought
devastation across the Indian Ocean and killed some 220,000 people.
The earthquake that caused the 2004 tsunami had a magnitude of 9.2, but also a much stronger vertical
component, whereas Wednesday's earthquake was more horizontally directed, Sardina said.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami off north-eastern Japan, killing some 19,000
people and sparking a nuclear disaster after an atomic power plant was swamped by the wave.
Indonesia president says no tsunami threat,
damage from quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, right, walks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prior to their
meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Apr 11, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
JAKARTA (REUTERS) - Indonesia's president said there were no reports of casualties or damage from a
huge earthquake off Aceh province on Wednesday, with no threat from a tsunami although an alert for a
giant wave remained in place.
'There is no tsunami threat although we are on alert,' said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a joint
news conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said Britain was standing ready
to help if needed.
'The situation in Aceh is under control, there's a little bit of panic but people can go to higher ground,' Mr
Yudhoyono said, adding that he had ordered a disaster relief team to fly to Aceh, which was devastated by
a 2004 tsunami.
S-E Asian nations on tsunami alert after 8.6
Indonesia quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
South-east Asian nations issued tsunami alerts and urged people to move to safety away from coastlines after a massive 8.7
magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: GOOGLE MAPS
JAKARTA (AFP) - South-east Asian nations issued tsunami alerts and urged people to move to safety
away from coastlines after a massive 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra on
Wednesday.
US monitors issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch after the quake, which according to the US
Geological Survey struck off the coast of Sumatra at 2.38pm (4.38pm) at a depth of 33km.
USGS had initially reported it as an 8.9-magnitude quake. Sri Lanka and India issued tsunami warnings
while Thailand urged people on the Andaman coast, a popular tourist destination, to move to safety.
A Sri Lanka government statement said waves could hit the island's eastern coast by about 10.40 GMT and
urged an orderly evacuation of the coastal strip.
India on Wednesday issued a tsunami warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian
Ocean.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the islands,
and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the south-east of
the country.
Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre advised people in the area to move to higher places and stay
as far away as possible from the sea. The quake swayed buildings as far away as Thailand's capital
Bangkok.
Australian Bonnie Muddle, vacationing in the Thai resort island of Phuket at the time of the quake, said
people were being evacuated from popular tourist areas including Krabi and Phang nag bay.
'Everyone is getting a little concerned over here,' she told AFP.
On December 26, 2004 a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a catastrophic tsunami that
wrought devastation across southern Asia, killing an estimated 220,000 people.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000
people.
On Wednesday Japan's Meteorological Agency said that there was no risk of a tsunami affecting Japanese
coasts.
Geoscience Australia, Canberra's geohazards agency, said there was no risk to Australia from the jolt.
Taiwan and New Zealand also said the earthquake posed no threat to the respective countries.
Thailand's Phuket airport closed after
tsunami warning
Published on Apr 11, 2012
The international airport on the southern Thai tourist island of Phuket was closed on Wednesday after a tsunami warning was
issued following an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, its director said. -- PHOTO:
PHUKETAIRPORTONLINE.COM
BANGKOK (REUTERS) - The international airport on the southern Thai tourist island of Phuket was
closed on Wednesday after a tsunami warning was issued following an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the
coast of Indonesia, its director said.
'We have temporarily closed the airport following the tsunami alert,' Phuket International Airport Director
Prateung Sornkham told Reuters by telephone.
People in Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phangnga, Trang and Satun were earlier ordered to move to higher
ground because of a possible tsunami, disaster prevention officials said.
Tsunami generated by Indonesian quake not
major: US agency
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Scenes at Capital Square after an 8.9-magnitude quake off Sumatra created tremors felt in Malaysia and Singapore. A
tsunami measuring 17cm has been generated in the Indian Ocean and is headed for the Aceh province of Indonesia after a
strong earthquake, a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center official said on Wednesday. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - A tsunami measuring 17cm has been generated in the Indian Ocean and is
headed for the Aceh province of Indonesia after a strong earthquake, a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
official said on Wednesday.
Earlier, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, sending residents fleeing in fear.
Mr Victor Sardina, a geophysicist on duty at the Hawaii-based centre, said the total vertical measurement
of the wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35cm, making the height 17cm.
He did not provide a time estimate for landfall. 'It doesn't look like a major tsunami,' Mr Sardina said. 'But
we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves.'
Small tsunami reaches Thailand after huge
quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
BANGKOK (AFP) - A small tsunami measuring 10cm reached Thailand's Andaman Coast on Wednesday
after a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, an official said.
'A 10-centimetre tsunami wave generated by the first earthquake hit Koh Miang off Phang Nga,' the
director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, Somsak Khaosuwan, said on Thai television.
'But we cannot be complacent,' he added, noting there had been several powerful aftershocks. 'So we are
maintaining the warning.' The centre earlier advised people on the Andaman coast, a magnet for foreign
tourists, to move to higher places and stay as far away as possible from the sea.
The area was battered by an Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that killed an estimated 5,400 people in
Thailand alone.
Since then, Thailand has installed a high-tech warning system designed to reassure tourists and businesses
that the country's beaches are safe.
The latest Thai alert, triggered by an 8.6-magnitude quake off Sumatra island, covers six southern
Andaman coastal provinces.
Flights to Phuket were diverted to other airports as passengers and staff were evacuated to higher ground,
officials said.
The tremor was felt as far afield as Thailand and southern India.
Malaysia issues tsunami alert after quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian authorities on Wednesday issued a tsunami alert for the country's
western coastline and warned citizens to stay away from the shore following a massive earthquake in the
Indian Ocean.
'We have issued a tsunami alert. We urge people to keep away from the beach in (the states of) Kedah,
Perlis, Langkawi, Penang and Perak,' Che Gayah Ismail, deputy director-general of the Malaysian
Meteorological Department, told AFP.
'People are advised to keep away from the beaches. It is not an evacuation order.' She said she wanted to
clarify an earlier statement by a department official who had mistakenly said an evacuation order was
issued.
The earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, triggering an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.
The quake's magnitude was 8.6, according to a revised reading from the US Geological Survey, and struck
431km off the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh where terrified residents poured into the streets.
The city was near the epicentre of a devastating 9.1-magnitude quake in 2004 that triggered a tsunami
across the Indian Ocean which killed 220,000 people, including 170,000 in Aceh province which lies on
the northern tip of Sumatra.
Malaysian state news agency Bernama said residents reported feeling the quake across the country,
including in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
It added that fearful residents in some areas of the northern state of Perlis rushed from their apartment
blocks.
The quake was also felt as far afield as Thailand. India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand have also have
issued alerts or evacuation orders.
Indonesia, US centre cancels tsunami watch
after quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Indonesian employees evacuate their office building in Medan city, in Sumatra island on Apr 11, 2012 following a powerful
earthquake in the western coast of Sumatra. US seismologists on Wednesday cancelled the area under watch for a possible
tsunami, following a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. -- PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - United States (US) seismologists on Wednesday cancelled the area under watch
for a possible tsunami, following a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. Indonesia also cancelled
the warning shortly after.
'The tsunami warning has been lifted,' Sri Woro Harijono, head of Indonesia's Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency, said on Metro TV.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said sea level readings indicated that the threat had
diminished or was over for most areas. 'Therefore, the tsunami watch issued by this centre is now
cancelled,' they added.
Bad weather dogs Pakistan avalanche search
efforts
Published on Apr 11, 2012
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Harsh weather conditions hampering the search for 138 people buried under a huge
avalanche at a Pakistani army camp will last at least another 24 hours, a senior meteorological official said
on Wednesday.
A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed
Kashmir early on Saturday morning, smothering an area of one square kilometre.
As more than 450 rescuers worked in sub-zero temperatures, experts said there was little chance of finding
any survivors at the site, which is at an altitude of around 4,000m.
The site of the Gayari camp has been hit by heavy snow in recent days and Arif Mahmood, the head of the
Pakistan Meteorological Department said the bad weather was likely to last another day.
'The harsh weather conditions in Gayari will begin to improve from midday Thursday', Mr Mahmood told
AFP in Islamabad.
'However, it will remain overcast today with thunderstorms and snowfall in Gayari and its surrounding
areas.' Rescuers have been using mechanical diggers and shovels to dig through the vast expanse of snow,
rock and ice dumped by the avalanche, but efforts to fly in more heavy equipment have been hindered by
the weather.
Mr Mahmood said flight operations to Gilgit and Skardu - the two nearest towns - should be able to resume
late on Thursday or early on Friday.
Another weather official, who was supervising weather forecasts for the area, told AFP that the
temperature at Gayari would be around minus eight to 10 deg C.
Photographs released by the military on Tuesday showed diggers and rescuers at work on an almost
featureless expanse of dirty grey snow and ice, with no trace visible of the camp that had been the 6th
Northern Light Infantry headquarters.
The site is surrounded by some of the world's highest peaks and lies near the de facto border with India in
the militarised region of Kashmir, which has caused two of the three wars between the two countries since
independence in 1947.
The nuclear-armed rivals fought over Siachen in 1987, but guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent
since a slow-moving peace process was launched in 2004.
India ends tsunami alert after huge
Indonesia quakes
Published on Apr 11, 2012
NEW DELHI (REUTERS) - India withdrew a national tsunami alert issued after huge earthquakes struck
off Indonesia on Wednesday, the Indian tsunami warning centre said.
'Thankfully, the danger has passed,' a scientist at the centre told Reuters.
Disaster officials had earlier warned waves as high as 3.9 meters could hit parts of India's Andoman and
Nicobar islands. A few thousand people were evacuated from the more vulnerable islands, a police official
said.
Tsunami threat forces tourists off Maldives
beaches
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Jetty at Kurumba resort in Male atoll, Maldives on Thursday, Feb 16, 2012. Upmarket resorts in the Maldives moved tourists
away from beaches and some even issued guests with life jackets following an Indian Ocean tsunami alert on Wednesday,
April 11, 2012, hotel staff said. -- PHOTO: AP
COLOMBO (AFP) - Upmarket resorts in the Maldives moved tourists away from beaches and some even
issued guests with life jackets following an Indian Ocean tsunami alert on Wednesday, hotel staff said.
About 420 guests at the luxury Hilton Iru Fushi resort were told to evacuate the beach as news of the
possible tsunami spread.
'We asked all our guests to gather on a building in the centre of the island,' a resort spokesman told AFP by
telephone. 'We also gave them life jackets as a precaution. Soon after, we learnt there was no tsunami
threat.'
At the Taj Exotica resort, staff said that 160 holiday makers had assembled at a designated evacuation
centre and were given life jackets until the tsunami alert was cancelled.
The Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands, has established luxury resorts in 100 islets catering to
well-heeled holiday makers and honeymooners who pay up to US$12,500 ($16,000) a night.
Around 850,000 tourists visited in 2011, drawn by the tropical resorts surrounded by coral reefs and
crystal-clear turquoise waters.
At least 125 locals and tourists were killed in the Maldives in the 2004 Asian tsunami which devastated
tourism infrastructure.
Singaporeans feel tremors from 8.6magnitude Aceh quake
Published on Apr 11, 2012
Buy SPH photos
Singaporeans across the island felt tremors after what is believed to be the aftershocks of a magnitude 8.6 earthquake hit the
waters off westernmost Aceh, Indonesia. -- PHOTO: AFP
By Elizabeth Soh
Singaporeans across the island felt tremors after what is believed to be the aftershocks of a magnitude 8.6
earthquake hit the waters off westernmost Aceh, Indonesia.
Residents and office workers in the East side of Singapore, including Changi, Eunos, Marine Parade, and
Bedok said that they felt the ground shake for about three minutes around 5 pm on Wednesday.
The local Meteorological Service has confirmed that a 8.7 magnitude earthquake occurred at about 4:40
pm in Northern Sumatra 1,242 km away from Singapore.
BACKG ROUN D STOR Y
'I was taken by surprise. My bed started rocking and the ground felt wobbly like jelly, but it only lasted for three minutes and
everything seemed stable after that.' she said.
- MS ANITA, MARINE PARADE RESIDENT
BACKG ROUN D STOR Y
READ ALSO:
Workers from Beach Rd, Shaw Tower evacuated after tremors
A joint statement from the Police and Civil Defence force said that they received 38 calls from the public
reporting the tremors. The statement advised the public not to panic, and to be calm if they feel any
tremors and report any gas leaks or damage to buildings they might see.
Tremors were also reported in other areas including Whampoa, Woodlands, and Bras Basah. Writer Ms
Anita, 30, who stays in a 21st storey condominium in Marine Parade, told The Straits Times that she was
resting when her bed suddenly started to shake.
'I was taken by surprise. My bed started rocking and the ground felt wobbly like jelly, but it only lasted for
three minutes and everything seemed stable after that.' she said.