NEWS: 9.0 Quake, Tsunamis Strike SE Asia - 275,000+ Dead

An earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale rocked a northern Indonesian island today and triggered severe aftershocks and tidal waves all throughout the southeast Asia region. The northernmost tip of Sumatra received the brunt of the first massive tremblor, which is one of the strongest quakes recorded in the last century and the second 8+ magnitude quake to strike in the last week. More than 275,000 people are dead in the SE Asia region, and tens of thousands are missing. An estimated 1/3 of the victims are children. More than half a million people are injured, and thousands of those are critically injured. Phone lines in the area are down and electricity is out. Many of the deaths are a result of tsunamis, which struck 9 countries in Asia and traveled as far as the east coast of Africa. Millions of people are left homeless, and the death toll is expected to rise significantly; some officials estimate more than 100,000 people could have perished. Among the dead is the crown prince of Thailand.



The force of the initial quake was so great that it caused the island of Sumatra to shift almost 100 feet to the southwest. It is believed that a 600 mile rupture occurred on the floor of the Indian Ocean. Scientists also believe the seismic shock was so strong that it caused the Earth to wobble on its axis and may have shortened our day by 3 microseconds.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake releases energy equivalent to 32,000 megatons, or about 3,200 nuclear bombs the size dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

Many tourists, including residents of Japan, Britain, Australia and the US, are among the dead.

Nations across the world, including the US, France, Austria, and the EU, have come forward to offer aid in the form of food, supplies, and money. British Airways is sending empty planes to the flooded Maldives Islands to assist with evacuation of survivors.

Tsunamis struck as far away as Somalia, on the coast of Africa.

More than 80 aftershocks greater than magnitude 5.0 have occurred since the initial quake, along with hundreds of smaller tremors.

This is the 2nd earthquake of 2004 to be measured at a magnitude 8 or greater. Last week, an 8.1 quake struck well offshore of Australia and caused no damage or injuries.

This is the largest recorded quake in 40 years. A magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck east of Anchorage, Alaska in March 1964.

In a sad coincidence, the Sumatra earthquake fell one year to the day after the destructive tremblor in Bam, Iran, which killed more than 25,000 people.

Related News Links:
abc.net.au
bbc.co.uk
earthquake.usgs.gov


Related Information:
Charity Contact Information - where to go if you want to help the victims in SE Asia
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake - Wikipedia

Related ATSNN Stories:
NY Times calls U.S. aid for tsunami 'miserly'
Sri Lankan Families Who Lost Children Are Taking Tsunami Orphans Without Approval
U.S. Increases Tsunami Support to $350 Million
Tsunami: An event in pictures
Volcano Erupts In Andaman Islands



[edit on 30-1-2005 by Banshee]

Yes, I just heard about it. It seems it's true, we really are experiencing catastrophic earth changes.

Wow... this is incredible. I would assume this has never happened before. Two 8+ quakes in the span of a week. Does anyone know the distance between the two quakes? Approximately

Stan Deyo was fairly close in this prediction made on the 22nd of December for the following 3-5 days - hmmmph!

www.stevequayle.com...

The BBC is confirming that at least 150 people have been killed by tidal waves triggered by this earthquake. They are also reporting the USGS' 8.5 figure and that the earthquake was felt as far away as Bangkok and Signapore. Thailand has been hit with high tides and tremors are being felt in Bangladesh.

Huge casualties are being reported following tidal waves and earth tremors in countries across southern and eastern Asia.
...
Large tidal waves striking coastal parts of Sri Lanka have reportedly killed at least 150 people.
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Electricity and telephone networks in the area have stopped working, making it difficult to confirm the extent of the damage, the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Jakarta reports.
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Several houses in the towns of Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe are said to have been damaged or washed away in flash floods.

A witness interviewed by a local radio station reported seeing nine bodies in Banda Aceh, where part of the town's largest hotel is said to have collapsed.

This is breaking news and the story is being updated as information comes in.

BBC News: Tidal Waves and Tremors Hit Asia

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news.com.au has a collection of several stories on the event�

Earthquake shakes Indonesia
From correspondents in Jakarta � Agence France-Press

At least 162 people were reported killed in Sri Lanka after the quake, which seismologists said measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian ocean southwest of Aceh province on Sumatra island and sparked panic across the region.
�
Sri Lanka's eastern and southern coastline was one of the worst hit areas, with rescuers saying at least 162 people had been killed by tidal waves that battered villages. story

Tidal waves hit Sri Lanka
From correspondents in Colombo � Agence France-Press

MASSIVE tidal waves hit eastern and southern Sri Lanka today causing flash floods and displacing thousands of people, police said.
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Reports from the coastal area suggested that a stretch of more than 500km from Trincomalee in the island's east to Galle in the south had been hit by huge tidal waves, but in many places water had receded. story

Tourists missing after tidal wave
From correspondents in Bangkok � Agence Fance-Press

HUGE tidal waves struck southern Thailand's popular resort island of Phuket today, sweeping at least four foreign tourists out to sea, sinking boats and forcing the evacuation of hotels, officials said on state radio.
�
The Thai Meteorological Department said the waves had been caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The waves that lashed the eastern sea board were caused by the aftershocks of an earthquake off Indonesia.
"There were reports of earth tremors from the southern and eastern regions as well as Colombo this morning," Spokesman S Premalal said.
"This phenomenon of waves is a result of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean."

Police said thousands of people had been forced out of their homes while hundreds of homes along the coast had also been washed away. story

Tsunami kills 150 after quake
From correspondents in Colombo - Reuters

AT LEAST 150 people were killed after a tsunamai triggered by an earthquake off the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean struck Sri Lanka today, district oficials said.

The worst-hit area appeared to be the tourist region of the south and east and the chairman of the John Keells hotel chain said five of his hotels had been badly flooded.

No communications were available with the low-lying Maldive islands to the south.

Further details were not immediately available. story

Huge earthquake wreaks havoc
By Bhimanto Suwastoyo in Jakarta � Agence France-Press

An AP photo is also included in this longer story.

A HUGE earthquake rocked Indonesia today, unleashing tidal waves and flash floods across Asia that swamped coastal areas and displaced thousands.
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First Lieutenant Suyitno of Aceh's southwestern Sigli district police, said that water began to rise some 30 minutes after the quake and added that hundreds of people residing near the coast or along rivers had been evacuated.

Suyitno said the depth of the flood was around one metre. full story

Unconfirmed radio reports said at least nine people had been killed in Indonesia. Waves up to five metres high hit the coast of Aceh forcing hundreds to flee to higher ground.

In Aceh, a region currently closed off to foreign media and aid agencies due to a long-running separatist conflict, there were unconfirmed reports of casualties, with buildings including a mosque and a hotel collapsing. story

Aceh Province seems to be the hardest hit area� I�ll start my stopwatch and see how long before HAARP gets the blame.

And for those reading from where they loath everything French... 5 meters is about 16.5 feet.

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7.3 mag off the coast of India now.

This is really, really bad guys.....

Didn't Titor say something about two 8+ magnitude quakes in the same week? lol. Seriously, man, this is awful! I can't and even imagine the horror that these people had to be experiencing because the ground had to be shaking violently. Then, after the shaking subsides, you have to run for your life because a wall of water is racing towards you.

They're going off everywhere, guys. Now Bangladesh.
Not getting much coverage in the States here....unbelieveable!!!

Originally posted by Banshee
7.3 mag off the coast of India now.

This is really, really bad guys.....

Yikes! Is that an aftershock? It's the size of a major quake!
More tsunamis on the way?

Look at a map...the area of destruction is huge!

Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are affected. The Maldives have not been heard from...

edit: brain fart

[edit on 12/26/2004 by Gools]

Sri Lanka - 400+ Dead
Thai Prime Minister orders complete evacuation if tsunami hit area's.

Second tidal waves are to hit in just over 2 hours

www.iris.edu...

My god...... thousands could be dead.....

In reverse order, the big one at the bottom:
7.3 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
6.1 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.9 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
6.0 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.8 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.8 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
6.0 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.8 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.9 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
8.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA

neic.usgs.gov...

It looks like the quakes after shocks are riding right up the northern side of the Indian plate right towards the Himilayas. This is amazing as the other major quake this week looked like it hit on the lower tip of this same plate. Could we be in for some major activity over the next few weeks?

Death tolls are rising by the minute. Journalists reporting states of panic all across the regions.

400 fishermen are missing in a southern indian state.

The thing that got me was a Seismologist on SkyNews who was in shock due to the events. This is an unprecedented event.

Amazing. I knew this was going to happen soon, but now that it is happening, I can't beleive it. The first phase of the apocalypse has begun. Now, what is going to happen when all those volcanos erupt.

[edit on 26-12-2004 by Indigo_Child]

i just posted the earthquake yesterday in the antartic and now this one came today and hit large area wow.i guess the plates are moving.i guess we might expect some plates to move on our side too.mostly because there are all connected in one point or another.

heres the 2 earthquakes picture the last few days....





earthquake.usgs.gov...


[edit on 26-12-2004 by flukemol]

Originally posted by skychief
Could we be in for some major activity over the next few weeks?

Try the next few hours!

Look at Banshee's post over yours... it's hapening now.

Nerdling where did you get that "2 hours to the next tidal wave" bit.

It's almost 2am here in Montreal. I'll flip through CBC Newsworld, TV5, BBC World and Euronews at the top of the hour for television coverage.

Theres nothing right now. North America is asleep and will wake to this story in a few hours.

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Getting my info from SkyNews who are quoting the Thai government.

They're evacuating three provinces because of this threat.

UPDATE: 2/3rds of the Maldive capitol has been flooded.

The USGS is now calling it an unbelieveable 8.9!!!

earthquake.usgs.gov...