Please start praying for the people who may be affected by this earthquake - 1Christians
Southeast Asian nations issued tsunami alerts and urged people to move
to safety away from coastlines after a massive 8.6 magnitude earthquake
struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra.
Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Malaysia issued evacuation instructions
as US monitors issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch after the
quake, which according to the US Geological Survey struck off the coast
of Sumatra at 4:38pm at a depth of 22km.
USGS had initially reported it as an 8.9-magnitude quake.
An analyst at Indonesia's Geophysics and Meteorology agency said five of
the nation's provinces - Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu
and Lampung - were at potential risk.
Sri
Lanka and India issued tsunami warnings while Thailand urged people on
the Andaman coast, a popular tourist destination, to move to safety.
Malaysia ordered a coastal evacuation.
A Sri Lanka government statement said potential waves could hit the
island's eastern coast by about 10:40 GMT (6.40pm Malaysian time) and
urged an orderly evacuation of the coastal strip.
"There is a strong possibility of a tsunami hitting the island after the
earthquake in Indonesia," meteorological department deputy director MD
Dayananda said.
He said the quake in Indonesia was felt in Sri Lanka, which is 1,340km northwest of the quake epicentre.
India issued a tsunami warning for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian Ocean.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red
high-level warning for the islands, and also put out lower alerts for
the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of
the country.
Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre advised people in the area
to move to higher places and stay as far away as possible from the sea.
The quake swayed buildings in the capital Bangkok.
People evacuated in Phuket
Australian Bonnie Muddle, vacationing on the Thai resort island of
Phuket at the time of the quake, said people were being evacuated from
popular tourist areas including Krabi and Phang Nga Bay.
"Everyone is getting a little concerned over here," she told AFP.
On Dec 26, 2004 a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a
catastrophic tsunami that wrought devastation across southern Asia,
killing an estimated 220,000 people.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.
On Wednesday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said that there was no risk of a tsunami affecting Japanese coasts.
Geoscience Australia, Canberra's geohazards agency, said there was no
risk to Australia from the jolt. Taiwan and New Zealand also said the
earthquake posed no threat to them.
- AFP
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