Undersea quake kills hundreds
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – An 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the northern coast of Sumatra late Monday, killing hundreds of people, authorities said, and triggering panic and mass evacuations in coastal areas leveled by December’s tsunami.
Several countries issued tsunami warnings but withdrew them after no giant waves appeared. Experts said the undersea quake triggered waves 4 to 12 inches high in different parts of the Indian Ocean.
The island of Nias off the west coast of Sumatra was reported to have suffered the greatest damage from the temblor with numerous buildings destroyed. A popular spot for surfers, Nias suffered more than 300 deaths in the Dec. 26 disaster, which was caused by a magnitude 9.0 quake.
The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs reported today that the death toll was between 200 and 300.
“It is predicted, and it is still a rough estimate, that the number of the victims of dead may be between 1,000 and 2,000,” Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in an interview with El Shinta radio.
Initial reports indicated that the town of Gunungsitoli on Nias, home to 27,000 people, was severely damaged.
“From the window I see very high flames,” said the Rev. Raymond Lias, according to MISNA, a Rome-based missionary news service. “The town is completely destroyed.”
Monday’s quake, which struck at 11:09 p.m., lasted more than two minutes and caused damage as far away as the city of Medan on the east coast of Sumatra. Geologists said the quake was an aftershock of the Dec. 26 temblor and struck 110 miles to the south along the same fault line. Smaller aftershocks continued through the night and this morning.
“My legs and knees were shaking,” said Popon Anarita, an aid worker who fled from the fifth floor of a hotel in Medan. “Other guests were outside already and I noticed many of them wore pajamas or only underpants. But laughing was the last thing on my mind.”
In Banda Aceh, the city hardest hit three months ago, Monday’s temblor caused widespread panic. Residents fled their houses as the earth shook, many of them crying and praying in the streets.
The earthquake was so strong that people could not stand and were forced to sit or lie on the ground. The temblor knocked out power, shrouding the city in darkness.
After the ground stopped shaking, many fled to higher ground out of fear that another tsunami would strike the city. Some fled without shirts or shoes. Overloaded motorbikes, cars and trucks, some with people hanging on the outside, poured out of the city, causing a midnight traffic jam. Some injuries were reported from vehicle accidents.
While officials in the United States, India, Thailand and Sri Lanka initially warned of a possible tsunami, police and religious leaders in Banda Aceh used mosque microphones to advise residents that no waves were coming and that they should not panic.
The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 175,000 in 12 countries and another 106,000 are still listed as missing. The majority of the victims were in Aceh, the isolated northernmost province of Indonesia where rebels have been fighting for independence for nearly three decades.
About half the city of Banda Aceh was destroyed by the tsunami and entire families were wiped out. Tens of thousands of Acehnese remain homeless and living in camps.
Despite the magnitude of the earthquake Monday, there were no immediate reports of fatalities in Banda Aceh.