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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Yet Another Earthquake Strikes Indonesia: 6.0 |
| 2005-04-10 |
| A POWERFUL earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island early today, just hours after an earlier tremor in the same area had sparked fears of a repeat of the tsunami disaster. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The latest quake, at 3.30am (AEST), measured 6.0 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was estimated to be off the coast about 100km southwest of the Sumatran town of Padang, the Hong Kong observatory said. An earlier quake hit last night near Siberut Island, 109km southwest of Painan, a neighbouring town to Padang, causing panic among residents fearful of another tsunami. A reporter in Padang saw many frightened people leave their houses and seek higher ground after that tremor, which measured 6.8. "There are reports of damage in Pariaman and Lubuk Basung," a Jakarta-based meteorological analyst said in the wake of the first quake. "Some houses are flattened." He said there were major problems with telephone communication into the affected areas, but electricity had been restored in Padang after an interruption of about an hour. The tremors came two weeks after a massive 8.7 earthquake centred on the same Indian Ocean geological faultline killed more than 600 people as scores of concrete buildings collapsed on the Indonesian island of Nias. A deadly earthquake last December generated a massive tidal wake that killed some 273,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |