8.9-magnitude quake hits Indonesia's Aceh

QX179R SG

INDONESIA: Indonesia's geophysical agency has reported an earthquake of 8.9 on the Richter scale off Aceh and issued a tsunami warning.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch is in effect.

In Singapore, several people called MediaCorp, saying they could feel tremors in Bukit Panjang, Bendemeer Road, Farrer Road, Whampoa Road, Marine Parade.

the Bear SG

first waves should reach land around now

i hope people have evacuated

QX179R SG

Tremors from Indonesia's quake felt in S'pore

SINGAPORE: Tremors from Indonesia's 8.7-magnitude quake were felt in several parts of Singapore on Wednesday.

MediaCorp and the National Environment Agency have received calls from the public regarding the tremors.

Several callers said they felt the tremors over at Marine Parade, Beach Road, Bukit Panjang, Bendemeer Road, Farrer Road and Whampoa Road.

Tremors were also reported in Malaysia, Thailand and Southern India.

- CNA/al

the Bear SG

the director of earth observatory in Singapore says their data points towards a horizontal shift rather than a vertical one.. and hopefully there is no large tsunami...

QX179R SG

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency on Wednesday reported a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale following an 8.7 magnitude temblor off the coast of the country's Aceh province, triggering a tsunami watch for the whole Indian Ocean.

FireIce SG

couple of mins ago shake agn

the Bear SG

yah.. there were some aftershocks...

at Beach Road, they felt it.. buildings shaking again

QX179R SG

SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - A tsunami measuring 17cm has been generated in the Indian Ocean and is headed for the Aceh province of Indonesia after a strong earthquake, a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center official said on Wednesday.

Earlier, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, sending residents fleeing in fear.

Mr Victor Sardina, a geophysicist on duty at the Hawaii-based centre, said the total vertical measurement of the wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35cm, making the height 17cm.

He did not provide a time estimate for landfall. 'It doesn't look like a major tsunami,' Mr Sardina said. 'But we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves.

Susanteo2011 SG

yah.. there were some aftershocks...

at Beach Road, they felt it.. buildings shaking again

so i felt them too..........i thought i giddy or sick !

will this be a repeat of 2004 ?

too bad not in Mediterranean.............can wipe Israel off the map...........with mega tsunami

Susanteo2011 SG

Earlier, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, sending residents fleeing in fear.

Mr Victor Sardina, a geophysicist on duty at the Hawaii-based centre, said the total vertical measurement of the wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35cm, making the height 17cm.

He did not provide a time estimate for landfall. 'It doesn't look like a major tsunami,' Mr Sardina said. 'But we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves.

what ???!!! just 17cm ????

looks like just confirm what some scientists said about the 2004 Tsunami............that quake was created by HAARP..........

QX179R SG

Indian Ocean on tsunami watch after Sumatra quake

WASHINGTON - US monitors issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch following a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra Wednesday but said it appeared to have only generated small waves.

Victor Sardina, a geophysicist with the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, told AFP the tsunami was "not anywhere near" as large as the devastating tsunamis that struck Asia in 2004 and Japan last year.

He said the tsunami measured a mere 35 centimetres (14 inches) near Padang, Indonesia, but could swell to as high as a metre (three feet) near Sri Lanka, adding that US scientists were still carefully monitoring the situation.

Earlier, the center said "earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami" but that it was not yet clear if such a tsunami had actually been generated.

The US Geological Survey said an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra at 2:38 pm (0838 GMT) at a depth of 33 kilometers (14.2 miles), revising earlier reports of a deeper, stronger quake.

The epicenter was some 435 kilometers (270 miles) from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, one of the hardest-hit areas in the December 26, 2004 tsunami that wrought devastation across the Indian Ocean and killed some 220,000 people.

The earthquake that caused the 2004 tsunami had a magnitude of 9.2, but also a much stronger vertical component, whereas Wednesday's earthquake was more horizontally directed, Sardina said.

Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.

- AFP/ir

QX179R SG

BANGKOK (AFP) - A small tsunami measuring 10cm reached Thailand's Andaman Coast on Wednesday after a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, an official said.

'A 10-centimetre tsunami wave generated by the first earthquake hit Koh Miang off Phang Nga,' the director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, Somsak Khaosuwan, said on Thai television.

'But we cannot be complacent,' he added, noting there had been several powerful aftershocks. 'So we are maintaining the warning.' The centre earlier advised people on the Andaman coast, a magnet for foreign tourists, to move to higher places and stay as far away as possible from the sea.

The area was battered by an Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that killed an estimated 5,400 people in Thailand alone.

QX179R SG

JAKARTA (AFP) - At least three tsunamis of up to 80cm hit Indonesia's coast after a massive 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra island on Wednesday.

'Our tide gauges and buoys recorded small tsunamis,' Said Kristiawan of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said. He said the highest was in Meulaboh in western Aceh, 'measuring 80 centimetres', and other smaller ones were recorded in nearby coastal regions.

A massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island earlier on Wednesday, triggering an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert and evacuation orders to clear people away from the coast.

The 8.6-magnitude quake struck 431km off the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, the US Geological Survey said, and was followed by a major 8.2-magnitude aftershock.

the Bear SG

the alerts have been lifted in most of the Indian Ocean islands

QX179R SG

Workers from Beach Rd and Shaw Towers evacuated after tremors felt

Workers from offices at Beach Road and Shaw Towers were evacuated after tremors from the Aceh earthquake were felt this afternoon (April 11).

According to an article in AsiaOne, office workers were seen gathering outside 700 Beach Road, a nine-level office building, just before 5pm. The evacuation apparently lasted less than 15 minutes before the workers were allowed to return to the building.

Tremors were felt all over S'pore after a 8.7 quake hit Aceh, Indonesia. Areas where tremors were felt include Changi, Eunos, Marine Parade, Bedok, Whampoa, Woodlands, Bras Basah and the Central Business District.

The National Environment Agency released a statement in Twitter, requesting the public to not be alarmed by the tremors. It also said Singapore is unlikely to be affected by a tsunami.

QX179R SG

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia lifted a tsunami warning which was issued following a massive 8.6-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra island on Wednesday.

'The tsunami warning has been lifted,' Sri Woro Harijono, head of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said on Metro TV.

Indonesia cancelled the warning shortly after the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii lifted its Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

Workers from Beach Rd and Shaw Towers evacuated after tremors felt

from the picture of those who evacutated...

look at thier face... all smiling

QX179R SG

30 buildings in Singapore have been inspected and found to be structurally safe after tremors were felt following a huge earthquake off Indonesia at 4:38pm on Wednesday.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and Housing Development Board (HDB) inspected buildings in the Central Business District (CBD), Beach Road, Temasek Boulevard, Selegie, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon North, Punggol, Woodlands, Geylang Bahru, Geylang and Siglap, where tremors were reported.

Members of the public felt buildings sway in different parts of the city-state after an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s island of Sumatra. A few offices temporarily evacuated staff.

The Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force said they received 38 calls from the public reporting tremors in certain parts of Singapore.

Facebook user Siva Sai Saravanan told Yahoo! Singapore that he felt tremors at Block 107 Jalan Rajah.

“My father and I experienced our flat swaying for a long time. The pails in our bathroom, filled with water started spilling by themselves.This happened at around 4:45pm,” Siva said.

Another Facebook user, Siti, said, “ I thought I felt the building tilting at around 3.10pm in Choa Chu Kang. Was wondering if I was dizzy.”

Media planner Lyndsey Long was sitting in her office in Beach Road when she felt the tremors for about a minute.

"I felt giddy, and could feel myself swaying slightly... I also felt a little nauseous," she told Yahoo! Singapore, adding that her entire office was temporarily evacuated from the building she was in. She also observed that some of the people at the adjacent Golden Mile Tower were evacuated at the same time.

Facebook user Tommy Teo, who lives in Yishun, said he felt the tremors and saw his chair moving.

“I was in my master bed room doing some computer work this afternoon and felt my chair was moving. I asked my daughter and son, and they said they felt some tremors.This was definitely an earthquake in Indonesia. Minutes later the internet was abuzz with news of a major earthquake,” said Teo.

Final-year undergraduate Philemon Foo was at home in Bedok when he felt the tremors.

“It started slow -- I felt my roller chair oscillating,” he said. “I didn’t think much about it at first, but then the oscillations got slightly more pronounced and I got a little worried as they didn’t stop even after 30 seconds,” he added.

He said the tremors in his house lasted for what seemed like two minutes, and saw items in his house like drawstrings and clothes hangers swaying in unison.

“It was quite long to me, that’s what made the experience scary,” he added.

Yahoo! user Foo Kee Mak said that he contacted a friend in Padang, a few hundred kilometres from the epicentre, and was told he felt the quake for two minutes.

The quake struck 431 kilometres off Banda Aceh, located on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A tsunami watch has been raised for the entire Indian Ocean, and countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and Singapore but it has been lifted.

The National Environment Agency said a regional tsunami may be generated but is unlikely to affect Singapore.

In Sumatra, residents were shaken by the quake, though it did not seem to have been felt strongly in Jakarta.

78-year-old Tandio who was in Pematang Siantar (a town north of Medan, Sumatra) said, “My heart started palpitating and felt like I was falling. Thought it was my heart so I took medication.”

Singapore-based freelance translator Belda Kosasih who is currently in Jak arta said she didn’t feel a thing.

She expressed concern for Indonesians living near the epicenter though.

“We're worried for Aceh because when the tsunami happened in 2004, it really devastated the place,” said Kosasih.

The tremors of the Sumatra quake were felt as far away as Thailand and Southern India, reported Reuters.

Should cracks or other structural defects be subsequently sighted, residents or occupants in public housing estates should call the HDB’s emergency service providers’ 24-hour hotline at 1800-325 8888, 1800-6275 5555, or 1800-6354 3333.

Those in private buildings should call the BCA at 6325 7191 or 6325 7393.