Strong aftershocks rocked Indonesia early yesterday after a massive undersea earthquake sparked fears of a region-wide disaster similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people.
There were no reports of deaths or damage to buildings from Wednesday night’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which caused panic in the Sumatran island port of Padang as people tried to reach higher ground when a tsunami warning was issued. No tsunami occurred.
Daily life resumed as normal at daybreak yesterday in Padang, a city of about 1 million people, and there were few visible signs of damage.
Photo: AFP
Indonesia’s National Meteorological Agency said there were six aftershocks during the night, but called for calm as they were diminishing in strength.
“We do not believe that there will be an earthquake of greater strength,” it said on its Twitter account. “And so residents are urged to keep calm and not be taken in by rumors.”
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said there had been no tsunami, casualties or damage along the coast, and people had returned to their homes.
Fears ran high on Wednesday evening when it was reported that the tremor had measured magnitude 8.2 and authorities issued evacuation alerts on loudspeakers, radio and TV. Patients at hospitals in Padang were evacuated and there were traffic jams as panicking residents tried to leave.
However, the US Geological Survey (USGS) revised the magnitude down to 7.8 and within two hours of the quake striking the tsunami warnings were canceled. USGS said the epicenter was 808km southwest of Padang.
“The traffic jams were caused by the fact that there are not enough evacuation routes or shelters at this point,” said Zulfiatno, the head of the disaster management agency in Padang, adding that shelters could only hold around 200,000 people in a city of about 1 million people.
“But the situation has improved from previous years. People have started to understand how to evacuate safely,” he added.
A ship carrying military personnel and search and rescue officials was dispatched yesterday to Tuapejat in the Mentawai Islands, off Sumatra’s west coast, to check on remote island communities.
The islands were the closest land to the quake’s epicenter and telephone contact had not been properly established with Tuapejat since the quake, the national search and rescue agency said.
“The team will head there to check the situation,” the agency’s West Sumatra division said in a statement, adding that residents were still believed to be sheltering in the hills.
Indonesia, especially Aceh on the northwest tip of Sumatra, was badly hit by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004.
The disaster killed 126,741 people in Aceh alone, and a total of 226,000 people.
Additional reporting by AFP
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