7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Indonesia’s Sumatra Island
October 26th, 2010 - 7:12 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
Oct 26, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The western part of the Sumatra coast of Indonesia experienced a major earthquake on Monday and the tremor is measured around 7.7 magnitude on the Richter scale, monitoring officials have divulged. Although as of now there are no reports of any significant loss of life, given its high magnitude, the tremor was felt in large parts of the western region of Indonesia. However, on Tuesday Indonesian authorities have confirmed that at least one person is believed to have been killed while houses along the Sumatra coast have also suffered extensive damage.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicenter of the earthquake was at a distance of 240 kilometers from Bengkulu, Sumatra and it stuck just after 10:40 on Monday morning. Soon after the earthquake stuck, a tsunami alert was issued for a brief period of time but it was later terminated as weather officials ruled out the possibility of a tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center released a statement in which it said that on the basis of the historical earthquake and tsunami data that is available, the threat of a destructive tsunami does not exist.
An official of the Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency later told reporters that following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, a series of aftershocks were felt in the western part of Indonesia’s Sumatra island. Following the initial tremor, as many as nine aftershocks have been experienced along the Sumatra coast with magnitude of up to 6.2 on the Richter scale. The Indonesian agency has further revealed that the 7.7 magnitude earthquake has rocked around five towns in Bengkulu and West Sumatra provinces.
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Tags: aftershocks, bengkulu, epicenter of the earthquake, geophysics, gina gomez, indonesian authorities, magnitude earthquake, meteorology, pacific tsunami warning, pacific tsunami warning center, richter scale, sumatra island, tremor, tsunami alert, tsunami data, tsunami warning center, united states geological, united states geological survey, weather officials, west sumatra