8.7 Earthquake off Aceh - Tusnami warning

[Iangould]

What it says in the title - news sources are reporting a massive earthquake off Sumatra near the location of the earthquake that caused the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

link

[Jared H.]

My thoughts go out to everyone in Indonesia. This looks terrible.

[Iangould]

Good news:

Bruce Pressgrave, a geophysicist of the US Geological Survey, said it was unlikely that a tsunami would be generated since this type of earthquake, which mainly involved the horizontal movement of the earth’s plates, does not generate a column of water that could cause a tsunami.

“There’s always a hazard but with this kind of quake it reduces the risk of a tsunami,” he told BBC .

While it was hoped that there would be no tsunami it was prudent to issue a tsunami warning given the magnitude of the earthquake, he said.

The only possibility was if the massive earthquake had resulted in an underwater landslide which in turn could cause a tsunami, Pressgrave said, adding it remained unlikely.

The USGS said the earthquake was about 8.7 magnitude on the Richter scale and the epicentre was 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

[Iangould]

The tsunami associated with the first quake was really small - 7 inches or so.

Unfortunately I say "first" quake because there was an 8.2 aftershock so now people are waiting to see what THAT does.