7.9 Magnitude Sumatra Indonesian Earthquake

The USGS is reporting a 7.9 Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake about 33 miles from Padang, Sumatra. The NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami watch for Sumatra and Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Its going to be a a big one: already currently death toll is 587 dead, wsj reports 700, thousands still buried in rubble. Two hospitals and a large mall have collapsed. update: second 6.9 magnitude aftershock about 80 km se of the sumatran earthquake.

These are all pacific rim fault lines, the same one which was responsible for the Tongan volcano from this March. The Samoan/Sumatran earthquake events were 10000 kilometers apart, which indicates they arent exactly related. The last sumatran earthquake in 2004 is more likely a cause of the Indonesian quake. Pm says, its going to be worse than the 2006 Indonesia Earthquake.

USGS Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake Details:

[USGS link]

Magnitude 7.6
Date-Time: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 05:16:09 PM at epicenter

Location: 0.789°S, 99.961°E
Depth : 80 km (49.7 miles) set by location program
Region: SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances:

45 km (30 miles) WNW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
220 km (135 miles) SW of Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia
475 km (295 miles) SSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
960 km (590 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 8.9 km (5.5 miles);

Previous Indonesia Earthquakes and Tsunami:

17 July 2006: A tsunami after a 7.7 magnitude quake in West Java province kills 550 people

27 May 2006: Quake hits ancient city of Yogyakarta, killing 5,000

28 March 2005: About 1,300 killed after a magnitude 8.7 quake hits the coast of Sumatra
26 Dec 2004: Asian tsunami kills 170,000 in Indonesia alone

Sumatra Tsunami Watch Details:

[PacWatch Tsunami link]

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1026Z 30 SEP 2009

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.
… A REGIONAL TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT …

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR
INDONESIA / INDIA / THAILAND / MALAYSIA