Tsunamis feared after Indonesian quake

September 12th, 2007 11:27 AM

It is a picture of a residence looking at the destroyed building

after the strong earthquake.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, at least 7 people were killed and injured 100 people by a massive earthquake and it also triggered a small tsunami in Western part of Indonesia. The warnings were told across most of the Indian Ocean region.

It was the earthquake magnitude of 8.2 that badly damaged the Sumatra island buildings along the coast. This earthquake was too strong that it could be felt in at least four other countries, making the buildings sway (2,000km away). Later, it was followed by many aftershocks which the strongest was magnitude of 6.6 and it also triggered for a second tsunami alert in Indonesia.

After 20 minutes of the initial earthquake, the tsunami wave of up to 3m high struck the city of Padang. Fortunately, only few of the buildings were damaged because people in Padang have been warned before the tsunami had struck. People had evacuated faster because of the reminder of 2004 tsunami disaster. Thanks to police, they went out early to warn people to stay away from the beaches. After the quake, frightened people fled their homes and ran to inland, fearing a repeat of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Sensitive to the 2004 tsunami disaster, governments issued alerts as far away as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, telling people to leave beaches. People in Mombasa, Kenya, crowded into buses after hearing the warning over the radio. Also, Sri Lankans were told to move at least 660 feet inland.

In my opinion, because we all knew about the 2004 tsunami disaster, we were able to save more lives and we now know what to do. I think that the police in Indonesia, Kenya, East Africa, etc… were very calm, smart and did their job well to evacuate people. Indonesia, the world's largest group of islands, is prone to extreme disturbance due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Article from http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/255739