An 8.4 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia on Wednesday 12 September around 6.10pm local time rocked the Bengkulu province. It was 105 kilometres southwest of Sumatra island at a depth of 30 kilometres. This triggered a, relatively small, 10 foot-high tsunami which slammed into at least one fishing village, Padang, on Sumatra. Around a dozen houses were swept to sea. Latest reports advise 10 people were killed in the initial earthquake and 49 injured.
The quake was felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, 600 kilometres away and neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand causing high rise buildings to sway.
A series of powerful earthquakes and 51 aftershocks followed until Friday 14th September when Indonesia issued a 7th tsunami warning. The aftershocks included:
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USGS map 3 major earthquakes
& 24 aftershocks September
12 & 13 2007
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Thursday 13th - temblor magnitude 7.8 quake struck at 6:49 a.m.
- Thursday – temblor magnitude 7.1 quake at 10:35 a.m.
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Thursday – 2 further quakes with a magnitude of 6.2 later in the day.
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Friday 14th – temblor magnitude 6.6 centred in the same area off Sumatra island.
The quakes were less than 120 miles from shore and around 12 miles deep, ie. relatively shallow thereby minimising the damage sustained.
While the Indonesian government declared a state of emergency for both Bengkulu and Padang, after the Air Force conducted an aerial survey, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono advised the overall level of damage was "minimal".
Given the criticism of alerts after previous earthquakes, governments issued alerts as far away as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, telling people to leave beaches. Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center alerted hundreds of officials in six southern provinces. Authorities in India were told to prepare India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands and Sri Lankans were told to move at least 650 feet inland. The tsunami warning was lifted in Australia after only small rises in sea level were measured at Cocos Island and the Christmas Islands.
Following Wednesday's quake, many feared a tsunami heading for land. But the huge mass of water spawned by the initial 8.4-magnitude quake was pushed to sea instead, said Mike Turnbull, a seismologist at Australia's Central Queensland University.
Reported Damage:
- Telephone lines and electricity were disrupted across much of Indonesia.
- At least five large buildings including mosques, houses, a school and a car dealership collapsed in Bengkulu. A fire also broke out on the fourth floor of a shopping mall.
- Padang has reported the collapse of many buildings including the city's main hospital.
- Sikakap harbor has been destroyed and some roads and bridges can no longer be used.
- Half of all government buildings were destroyed in Tuapejat and houses were heavily damaged.
- In Siberut some school buildings and houses destroyed.
- The Mentawai Islands, a chain of about 70 islands located 150km of the western coast of Sumatra, have reported major damage to roads and houses.
- Utility firm, PLN reported the company had suffered losses of Rp 5 billion (US$531,941) due to the damage to its Sumatra distribution and transmission lines resulting from the quake.
The Island of Sumatra is in close proximity to the Sundra Fault Line, which is no stranger to seismic activity including a magnitude 6.3 quake in March 2007 in Padan that resulted in 70 deaths.
This quake was nearly as severe as the magnitude 8.7 that rocked the northern part of Sumatra island in Nias on March 28, 2005. Despite the intensity of this latest quake the full force of the tsunami was sent out to sea, unlike the massive December 2004 undersea quake in the Indian Ocean that triggered a huge tsunami and killed more than 230,000 people, most of them on Sumatra.
Author
Claim Solutions Pty Ltd.
Insurance Policy
Country: - Indonesia
Policy Description: - Various property, business interruption, home and contents, motor vehicle, and life.
Insurer: - Various
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