Indonesia - December 2004 tsunami & Lingering Dangers

List of largest Indonesian quakes since the December 2004 tsunami

Great overview site.

2007 -
4/12/07 -
INDONESIA - Scientists have reported what is thought to be one of the WORLD'S GREATEST MASS DEATH OF CORALS EVER RECORDED as a result of the earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia on March 28, 2005. The entire island of Simeulue, with a perimeter of approximately 300 km (186 miles), was raised up to 1.2 m (3.9 feet) following the quake, exposing most of the coral reefs which ringed the island. "This is a story of mass mortality on a scale rarely observed. In contrast to other threats like coral bleaching, none of the corals uplifted by the earthquake have survived". The news from Simeulue is not all bad. At many sites, the worst affected species are beginning to re-colonize the shallow reef areas. The reefs appear to be returning to what they looked like before the earthquake, although the process may take many years.

4/11/07 -
The geological scar left by the devastating earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004 has healed more quickly than expected. Satellite measurements of Earth's gravitational field taken just after the quake show it left a depression 8 millimetres deep in the crust and shallow mantle. While this does not seem like much, the shifting mass jolted Earth's axis of rotation enough to move the poles by 10 centimetres. In under a year, however, the depression had nearly vanished – something that surprises geologists because, according to models of how rocks in the mantle move, it should have taken 20 years. "It's almost impossible for rocks to move that quickly." The key is that the mantle beneath the 1200-kilometre fault has more water than usual – about 1% of the rock by weight. As the water is under intense heat and pressure, it behaves like a gas and can move through kilometres of solid rock in a short time. In a model, water flows from rocks compressed by the quake into those that expanded as it released their stresses. The influx causes the de-stressed rocks to return to their original state faster. The model also suggests that the extent of permanent shifts in Earth's rotational axis due to strong quakes would be less than expected.

3/23/07 -
INDONESIA - Mount Batutara located on Lembata Island, East Nusa Tenggara, erupted as of March 17 and is declared off-limit to local fishermen. The eruption of Mt Batutara is still going on. Mt. Batutara, which is 750 meters above the sea level, is currently on the alert status or the second level. "Lembata Island has no inhabitants, but it is often used as a transit area by local fishermen." Volcano observation officers tried to approach the island to check the condition of the mountain, which spewed volcanic materials up to 1,500 meters high. "However, up to now, our staffs could not approach the island at a close distance because of huge waves."

3/20/07 -
INDONESIA has raised the alert level on Mount Talang, Sumatra Island, after an increase in rising columns of smoke and tremors in the area. The status of volcano activity was raised at 7:00 pm on Monday. The risk of an eruption was brought up from three to four degrees. The smoke reached up to 800 meters (2.672 feet) high. Nearly 41,000 people will be evacuated from the slopes of the mountain should an eruption prove imminent. "There is yet no plan to evacuate them, but we are now preparing in case the alert status is raised."

INDONESIA - the "mud volcano" briefly stopped spewing toxic sludge for the first time in more than nine months. "The flow of mud coming out of the crater suddenly stopped for about 30 minutes shortly before noon (4pm AEDT) on Monday. "None of our team members knows for sure what happened and we are still trying to determine how it happened." The steaming crater, located near Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya, merely bubbled during the pause. The temporary hiatus was the first since the mud hole began spewing sludge in May. The pause was probably unrelated to the hundreds of chains already dropped into the mud hole. The brief halt may have occurred because parts of the funnel collapsed, creating a temporary obstruction that was eventually cleared by pressurised gas in the crater. "We were worried that an explosion would follow, but it turned out not to be the case."

3/18/07 -
INDONESIA - The use of concrete balls to reduce the force of a mud volcano that has swamped villages on Indonesia's Java island appears to be working. The flow has decreased by about 20 percent after 374 clusters of concrete balls linked by steel cables were dropped into the volcano. However, the mud has become thicker. A more thorough evaluation involving the measurement of the sludge's chemical contents, temperatures and the eruption's pressure was being carried out and the results could be announced within days. A further 500 chains of concrete balls will be fed into the flow this weekend.

3/16/07 -
INDONESIA - A moderate 5.4 earthquake struck the eastern Indonesian islands of North Maluku on Thursday, heavily damaging homes and buildings and injuring at least two people hit by falling debris. A strong, 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck West Sumatra province on March 6, killing around 70 people.

INDONESIA - the bid to plug a "mud volcano" with concrete balls is going to use thousands more balls than planned. Workers have nearly deposited an initial target of 374 chains of four heavy balls into the crater. The plan is to drop 500 more chains. Some experts are sceptical about the plan's chances of success, with mud still flowing from the crater near Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya. The toxic flow has displaced 15,000 people.

3/11/07 -
Volcano Warning After Indonesian Earthquake - The earthquake that killed more than 70 people in western Indonesia may have led to heightened activity at three volcanoes, experts warned Friday. Tuesday’s quake, which was followed by a powerful aftershock, flattened scores of homes and buckled roads on Sumatra island’s western side. As survivors complained that food, shelter materials and drinking water was slow in reaching them, they were warned of a new potential threat. Geologists said sensors on the slopes of three active volcanoes – Talang, Tandikat and Merapi – had detected above-average activity since the 6.3 magnitude quake. “We usually need about a month to observe whether the earthquake could trigger an eruption.” Residents living near Mount Talang – one of the country’s most active mountains – were nervous. In 2005, a minor eruption forced the evacuation of more than 2,500 people.

INDONESIA - So far, nearly 150 concrete spheres have been tossed into the mud volcano abyss, too few to make a real impact. The government has given them another five weeks to make a difference, or walk away and let the volcano run its course. Critics say almost everything depends on the shape of the mammoth gullet, believed by the ball-dropping team to resemble a champagne glass, although recent sonar readings indicate its base may be larger than initially thought. "The hope is that the balls will fit snuggle at the bottom, but it is unlikely to be that simple." There apparently are several separate vents. For nine months, the gaping hole in the ground has spit out a biblical torrent of hot, black mud, swallowing thousands of homes outside Indonesia's second-largest city and attracting amazed geologists from around the world. Mud volcanos are fairly common along volatile tectonic belts and in areas rich in oil and natural gas like Indonesia. But the eruption just outside the city of Surabaya is exceptional because of the sheer volume of mud that has been surging each day from the hole - enough to fill 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Twelve villages and 20 factories have been swallowed, with mud-caked roofs and the tops of lamp posts as the only reminders of what once was there. Engineers tried building earthen dams to hold back the sludge, but they are about to overflow. The viscosity of the mud hindered efforts to channel it into the sea. A plan to cap the volcano with concrete was abandoned almost immediately as ill-conceived.

3/8/07 -
INDONESIA - Several areas in West Sumatra have been rattled by some 350 after-shock tremors up to Wednesday, following the powerful earthquake on Tuesday, which killed at least 70 people. Local staff of the Geology and Geophysics Agency in the West Sumatra town of Padang Panjang said Wednesday that after-shock tremors would be felt in the next three days in West Sumatra and its surroundings, although they would not be as powerful as the intial quake. The fault that spawned the quake is known as the Great Sumatran. It last ruptured in 1945.
3/6/07 -
The two strong earthquakes hit Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 70 people and sending emergency operations into full swing to deal with dozens of injured. Some buildings collapsed and several homes and other buildings were badly damaged. The tremors were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore, where several buildings were evacuated.
There are fears the death toll may be higher as communications with remote regions have been cut. Many people were injured as hundreds of buildings were flattened, although many of these are likely to be small, wooden houses. Emergency officials are scrambling to co-ordinate rescue efforts, but are having problems accessing some areas due to damaged roads. Telephone and power lines have also been knocked down, cutting electricity to the capital of West Sumatra, Padang. There was no risk of a tsunami as the earthquake happened under land rather than under the sea.

3/4/07 -
INDONESIA - A moderate quake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale hit eastern Indonesia on Saturday, damaging some buildings and a television tower. There were no reports of casualties or injuries.

2/22/07 -
INDONESIA - A second earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale was detected at North Maluku in Indonesia Wednesday morning without signs of a possible tsunami. The tremor, which occurred at 11.19 am local time, was a follow-up undersea earthquake to the first one at 6.6 on the Richter scale that happened Tuesday evening. Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, the Meteorological Department reported a moderate earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale near South of Sumba Island, 574 kilometres southeast of Denpasar, Indonesia and 1,762 kilometres southeast of Sibu. It said the earthquake occurred at 7.12 am.

1/26 -
INDONESIA - Indian scientist warns of a possible major natural disaster in South East Asia - Increased seismic activities have been recorded in the past one month in the Java-Sumatra-Andaman region of South East Asia, indicating the possibility of a major disaster in the near future. More than 52 earthquakes with varying magnitude have been recorded in the last month. These include two major earthquakes: 7.1 magnitude in Taiwan on December 26 and 7.5 in the Molucca sea. Also 4.9 and 6.1 magnitude earthquakes were recorded in the Nicobar Islands. This appears to be a natural cyclic process but there is a possibility of it triggering a major disaster.
1/22 -
INDONESIA - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake in northeastern Indonesia left one person dead and four injured when it rattled buildings, causing panicked residents to flee homes, churches and shopping malls. The Indonesian seismological institute also issued a tsunami alert via television and radio, but the feared wave never came. The alert however sent hundreds racing inland to higher ground causing massive traffic jams.
INDONESIA - A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck this morning in the Molucca Sea about 100 miles east of Sulawesi Island in northeastern Indonesia. The quake was large enough to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued. A basin-wide tsunami - one that travels a great distance or across an ocean - isn't expected, though a tsunami near the earthquake's site is "always possible."
---------------------------------------
2006 -
12/22 -
The 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India's Andaman Islands, prompting residents to flee their homes, fearful of a repeat of the deadly 2004 tsunami. The earthquake occurred at 1:20 am (0650 AEDT), some 115 kilometres south-southwest of the local capital Port Blair.
INDONESIA - Jakarta authorities raised the Cebeles Isles to red code, top-alert Monday, due to possible eruption of the Soputan Volcano, which has spewed hot volcanic ash. Experts believe Soputan may be about to erupt in the next two weeks after it expelled volcanic dust for nearly two miles down its eastern slope. When it last erupted in December 2004, Soputan spewed streams of lava 24 miles.
FLOODS - Twelve people were reported missing and up to 30,000 have fled their homes as floods swept the Indonesian province of Aceh after three days of rain. Up to two metres of water inundated at least six villages in Langkat district on the eastern coast of the island of Sumatra. "We're still unable to contact Sekoci village... 15 kilometres from the main road." The floods have cut off the main road connecting the provincial capitals of Aceh and North Sumatra.
12/19 -
INDONESIAN relief workers struggled today to reach parts of a remote area in Sumatra island after earthquakes destroyed 680 homes and killed at least four people. A road connecting two villages in the Muarasipongi area remained impassable after yesterday's quakes triggered landslides. 230 families had fled their homes amid heavy rain and continuing aftershocks. People from 11 villages affected by the quake had sought shelter on soccer fields, or in local government offices and police buildings. The quakes, which struck early yesterday and were up to a magnitude of 5.8, were felt in Singapore, just across the Strait of Malacca on the other side of Sumatra island.
The moderate 5.5 earthquake that hit just before dawn may have killed seven people and it injured 100 early Monday, spreading panic across a large swath of the Indonesian island worst hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami.
12/18 -
INDONESIA - Three moderate earthquakes struck Indonesia's Sumatra island, with four people reported killed in one area and causing a string of aftershocks. The first earthquake struck at 4.10am (0810 AEDT) with a magnitude of 5.8. Its epicentre was 128km under the sea southwest of the city of Banda Aceh. The second quake, which had a magnitude of 5.7, came about 30 minutes later on land at depth of 53km in an area northwest of the city of Padang in Sumatra. A third quake, of 5.5 magnitude, hit at 8.24am (12:24 AEDT) in North Sumatra.
12/17 -
INDONESIA has raised the alert level at a volcano on the northeastern Sulawesi island after it belched hot ash, fearing a possible eruption within two weeks. Mt Soputan in northern Sulawesi, about 2,160 km northeast of Jakarta, blasted volcanic dust about three km down its eastern slope. Evacuations were not considered necessary because residential areas are on non-threatened southern and western sides of the mountain, with the closest village around eight km from the peak. The alert was raised to the second from highest level after heightened activity since Monday.
12/15 -
INDONESIA - Landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island killed 17 people today, most of them worshippers in a mosque. Workers were searching for 11 more people missing after the landslides struck two villages in the remote area of western Sumatra. There had been heavy rain in the mountainous area that had left the ground very unstable. The nearest town to the landslides is Solok, about 900km northwest of Jakarta. The rainy season has just started in parts of Indonesia making landslides more likely.
INDONESIA - The data recorded by a global positioning system through June 2006 showed the two huge earthquakes that devastated Aceh province and Nias Island in 2004 and 2005 were not the end of the earthquake cycle on Sumatra island and were reflections of underground forces pushing the island in different directions. "This movement will accumulate the energy from a huge earthquake source under the Mentawai Islands, whose power could reach up to a 9 magnitude (quake) or even higher." While it is impossible to predict when the earthquake would hit, it would likely affect the Mentawai Islands and Sumatra's west coast - from West Sumatra province to Bengkulu. An extremely large earthquake hits Sumatra every 100 to 300 years. Recorded earthquakes followed by tsunamis occurred in the 1300s, 1600s, 1797, 1833 and 2004. The last earthquake centered under Mentawai measured 8.2 on the Richter scale in 1797 and caused 10-meter high waves. The historical and coral records show the earth crust's compression has reached the last phase of the tension release phase, which indicates another big earthquake is due.
12/13 -
MALAYSIA - Sea cucumber scare in Penang - Could a tsunami strike them again? That was the deep fear that struck Penang residents when they saw thousands of sea cucumbers on the beach two days ago. The residents of Pantai Pasir Panjang remember how thousands of fish washed ashore on the same beach several days before the December 26, 2004 tsunami catastrophe. Most of the more than 50 deaths in Malaysia due to the tsunami were reported at Pantai Pasir Panjang. The RARE phenomenon took place this time on the 11th as the thumb-sized creatures found their way onto the kilometre-long shore after midnight. And residents are worried that it could signal an impending tsunami. Last month, The Star reported something similar happening in Kuala Terengganu when thousands of sea cucumbers, also known as gamat, appeared on the Batu Buruk tourist beach. The deputy director of the Oceanography Institute described the phenomenon as 'VERY ODD' and said it could have been caused by strong sea undercurrents. 'This may be due to the imminent monsoon season, but I consider it a strange occurrence as it HAS NEVER OCCURRED HERE BEFORE.'
INDONESIA - The discovery of potential mud volcanoes off the Thai island of Phuket has highlighted the need for more research on the Andaman Sea floor to prepare for future tsunamis, scientists said Tuesday. Data have revealed the existence of four underwater "hills with pretty odd shapes. We believe that some of these hills could be mud volcanoes." Mud volcanoes belch mud and gases and, like their lava-spewing cousins, can trigger earthquakes. Mud volcanoes are caused by heat from the sea floor, but it is too early to say whether these hills are a sign of seismic activity. The same underwater seismic faultline that caused the magnitude-9 quake that triggered the 2004 tsunami lies a few hundred kilometres to the west of where the potential mud volcanoes were discovered.
12/12 -
INDONESIA - A team of Thai and German marine geologists has found four submarine mud volcanoes about 200 kilometres from Phuket. The first and biggest volcano about 200km from Phuket, about 650 metres under the sea. Its base is about 800 metres in diameter and it is 100 metres high. The second volcano is located 50km west of the first volcano at a depth of about 1,000 metres. The third and fourth volcanoes have bases about 500 metres in diameter and are 60-70 metres high. They are located about 60km northeast of the second volcano and are at a depth of 700 to 800 metres. These are the first submarine mud volcanoes discovered in Southeast Asia. But an above-ground mud volcano exists at Baratang Island, in India's Andaman Islands, about 200 to 300km away. The team of marine geologists suspected the mud volcanoes they had found were like submarine mud volcanoes off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. "This kind of volcano has nothing to do with tsunamis or other disasters. I don't want people to be worried as they are not hazardous." Mud volcanoes are often associated with petroleum deposits and the area might gather strange undersea marine creatures that live without sunlight.
12/7 -
INDONESIA - Analyses of a classic, slow-rupturing tsunami earthquake whose massive waves devastated the coast of Java, Indonesia, this past summer, in July, are providing insight to seismologists and engineers, who want to better understand these rare events, recommend strategies to improve safety and perhaps provide long-range forecasts of potential danger zones worldwide. Among the surprises is data indicating that a secondary underwater movement amplified the original tsunami to create a wave run-up more than 60 feet high along more than a one-mile section of coastline. Data also raise the possibility that some regional geophysical characteristic may be making Java more vulnerable to tsunami earthquakes. Only about 0.1 percent of earthquakes of a 6.0 or larger magnitude on the Richter scale in the past 40 years have been classified as tsunami earthquakes.
12/5 -
INDONESIA - Two Indonesian cities that escaped the devastating tsunamis of December 2004 are at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra, researchers say. The researchers, using computer models, produced simulations showing that a major earthquake could send a series of waves 15 to 20 feet high sweeping ashore around Padang or Bengkulu, coastal cities of 800,000 and 350,000 just south of the Equator on Sumatra’s Indian Ocean coast. Many seismologists say such quakes are inevitable off the coast near those cities.
12/3 -
INDONESIA - An earthquake off Indonesia's eastern island of Sumbawa late Friday killed one person, damaged many houses and buildings, and caused panic among residents. The quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, had its epicentre 48 kilometres beneath the ground and struck 25 kilometres north of the island, some 1,350 kilometres east of Jakarta. The quake was the latest of a series of quakes in the past year to rattle Indonesia.
The quake injured 14 people. "Several buildings collapsed such as the chamber of commerce building and around 20 houses in Bima." -------------------------
11/30 -
INDONESIA - A strong earthquake destroyed houses and other buildings in northern Indonesia Wednesday. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. The 6.1-magnitude temblor struck at 10:32 a.m. north of the Maluku islands. Around 10 houses, a mosque and a school building were destroyed in Hapo village on Morotai island.
UNUSUAL WEATHER SEASON -
11/24 -
INDONESIA - As Jakarta continues to bake through the long dry season, residents try to cope with the heat while waiting for the respite of the rainy season which has been late to start. "The authorities need to find out what is going on with the weather, whether it is caused by global warming or not. It's useless for the authorities to cover it up just because they may not be prepared to study the matter. This is important so they know what to do, and so the public can be prepared for what lies ahead. The impact of this long dry season must be worse for farmers who have seen their crops fail, and for people without access to clean water." "The weather has been REALLY UNUSUAL. Everyone is getting sore throats this dry season. It is probably some new contagious disease. My whole family was sick this week. And several friends at my taxi pool have had sore throats. In the past, the rainy season started in November and it would rain every day in December and January. This year, if we don't take extra care we will get sick."
11/23 -
INDONESIA - At least seven people have been killed in a gas pipeline explosion near the site of a massive mud leak that has displaced thousands in Indonesia. A number of people are still missing after the powerful blast shot flames hundreds of metres in the air near the city of Surabaya on Java island. Officials suspect the mud's weight may have caused subsidence which led the underground pipe to break. The authorities have been struggling for months to stop the mud 'volcano'. The lake of mud now covers more than 400 hectares (988 acres), submerging eight villages, and shows no sign of stopping. Workers have been trying to contain the flow with a network of dams and by channelling some of it into the sea, but the mud is believed to have caused the area to sink. (photo)
11/22 -
INDONESIA - Mt. Merapi in Indonesia's Java island calmed down Tuesday morning after spewing hot clouds up to three kilometers down from its peak Monday night. The local government had called on people living on the volcano's slope to increase their awareness for possible more hot clouds and floods of cold lava.
10/11 -
INDONESIA - The Japanese International Cooperation Agency warned of possible great lava slide along several rivers on Mt. Merapi's slope in Indonesia in the upcoming rainy season. A delegation to Yogyakarta said that the Gendol river was the most dangerous one as it had a large deposit of volcanic materials upstream. "Our survey showed that volcanic materials in Gendol river can be easily carried downstream by water." They stressed the need of an early warning system for tourists and residents working on the river downstream especially entering the rainy season as cold lava could strike anytime.
10/5 -
INDONESIA - The Indonesian government has given its backing to a plan to dump millions of tons of untreated muddy water into the Porong river, near Surabaya city. Muddy water is already being pumped, and a pipeline is being built to take it directly to the coast. The environment ministry admits the plan will destroy marine life in the area. Environmental groups say it could take 30 years to repair the damage. The plan is a last ditch attempt to stave off disaster, four months after mud started spurting out of a crack in the earth. The mud spill has flooded more than 400 hectares (990 acres) of land. It has also forced more than 10,000 people from their homes, and submerged several villages. As the clock ticks down to the start of the rainy season, measures to contain the mud are getting ever more desperate. A series of dams built to limit the spread of the sludge has burst several times, flooding eight villages and closing the main highway into the city. With the crack in the earth now pumping out nearly 130,000 cubic metres of mud a day, the government says it has no option but to channel the sludge into the sea.
INDONESIA - there is a prolonged dry in Indonesia - "Extremely dry, unbelievably dry. We have a wet and dry season, but we have not had rain here now for two months, which is VERY UNUSUAL for the wet season."
----------------
9/29 -
INDONESIA - In Java, experts have warned about the possible risk of volcanic eruption similar to that in Pompei - for four months, millions of cubic metres of boiling mud have been flowing around the whereabouts of Porong; entire villages have already been submerged and 10,000 people displaced. Efforts to block the mudflow went on until academics concluded there was no way to stop it and that the only option was to contain the flow and channel it towards the sea, seeking to limit damage done. Meanwhile, tension is rising among local residents: for months, they have watched their homes, work and fields being submerged, and now they are protesting the absence of proper intervention. Road blocks on the route from Malang to Surabaya have become the order of the day, with queues of cars of around 4 to 5 km long. Thousands of people have erected tents near the edge of the road, seeking shelter to escape the mud. Citing scientific studies, an expert said a mud volcano had been lying dormant under Porong for 4.9 million of year. In December this could erupt, with mud sweeping across kilometers of land, as Mt Vesuvius did in Pompei: “The potential disaster is near. The hot mud quantity is beyond our imagination... my opinion as a geologist is that we have no choice other than to send this mud to rivers and the sea. We are now reaching the last days of September and soon the rainy season will start,” which could swell the volume of mud and encourage eruption.

9/28 -
INDONESIA'S president has declared a landslide disaster zone over part of East Java swamped by a mudspill, and ordered that four affected villages be abandoned. “Around 400 hectares of the affected area flooded with mud is now declared a “disaster area' and not fit for habitation. Almost 3000 households from four villages will be resettled." For four months, steaming mud has been spewing from the earth near an exploratory gas well. Experts have warned they cannot predict when the outpouring might end.
9/27 -
INDONESIA - European geologists said Monday it may be impossible to stop a massive surge of hot sludge on Indonesia's densely populated island of Java, saying it could be the birth of a new mud volcano. The mud, which is almost five metres deep in some places, has submerged houses in four villages since it started spewing from a hole four months ago, displacing more than 10,000 people. At least 20 factories and 270 hectares of land have been inundated or abandoned due to safety reasons. The mud has repeatedly washed onto a major toll road, closing it for weeks at a time, and now threatens a rail link in the industrial area just outside Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city.
Late on Monday the mudflow broke barriers and injured six. One had burns from waist to ankle. Several experts have said the mudflow, which started to spurt in late May, could have been triggered by a crack about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) deep in East Java province's Banjar Panji well. However, a group of international scientists said this week the mudflow might be a natural phenomenon that could be impossible to stop. The mud has swamped four villages over an area larger than Monaco, displacing more than 10,000 people and highlighting the chequered environmental practices in exploiting resources in Indonesia. The Monday night barrier breaches had been predicted by hundreds of villagers living near the sand-and-gravel dykes who fled the area last week. But, several site workers who stayed in the abandoned houses failed to anticipate the flood. The ongoing crisis has forced the local government in East Java province to allow the channeling of the muddy water into a nearby river, despite concerns it could pollute the ocean, a source of income for millions living on Java's eastern coast. "We are racing against time. The rainy season is near and we must reduce the pressure against the dykes."
India's last active volcano in the Barren island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is slowly calming down 16 months after its eruption. 'Barren' had erupted in May 2005 after the disastrous tsumani hit the island in December 2004. The volcano runs about 150 fathoms deep under the sea and usually gives off smoke.
9/18 -
INDONESIA - At least 13 quakes and one small eruption with black smoke were recorded in the volcanic activities of Mount Talang in Solok district in West Sumatra on Sunday.
INDONESIA - The devastating tsunami not only caused widespread destruction along the country's east coast, it has also resulted in over-fishing in the Indian maritime. However, the phenomenon is not caused by damage to coastal flora and fauna in the 2004 tsunami aftermath, but due to measures taken to rehabilitate affected fishermen in the coastline. "A large number of fishing boats were provided to fishermen and consequently fishing along the coastline has recorded a significant rise since then." The area within 10 kms from the east coast is being over-exploited as far as fishing is concerned, because the fishermen are now equipped with better boats and fishing equipment.
9/14 -
INDONESIA - Scientists have raised the alert level at rumbling Mt. Taland volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island after it showed signs of increased activity, but a major eruption is not imminent. Sensors on the slopes of Mount Talang picked up increased volcanic activity and a buildup of gases, but the mountain did not send debris or lava down its slopes. The mountain was spewing brownish smoke some 250m into the air on Sunday, after the alert was raised to the second-highest level a day earlier, but nearby towns and villages were in no danger.
9/8 -
INDONESIA - alert level raised at smoking Mount Bromo volcano. Indonesia has raised the alert level at the volcano on Java island, and is urging villagers and tourists to stay off the mountain's slopes. Mount Bromo typically erupts once a year, but it does not send debris or lava far down its slopes and nearby towns and villages were in no danger. Bromo was placed at the second-highest alert level on Tuesday, meaning an eruption may occur within one or two weeks.
INDONESIA - Thousands of residents of the tiny islands of Tual and Langgur (Maluku province) abandoned their homes the night of the 29th for safer ground after a tsunami alert was issued. The population fled after an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale was registered off the coast of the Maluku Islands, eastern Indonesia, forcing the authorities to sound the alarm, which was eventually called off. People found refuge in the villages of Un and Kampung Raja and on Masbait Hill. A local governmental building is now used as a temporary shelter for panicked residents, but the picture of the situation on the two islands remains unclear due to poor communications. It is known though that residents still refuse to go home until they are certain that the tsunami danger is over.
------------------
8/31 -
INDONESIA - Thousands of residents of the tiny islands of Tual and Langgur (Maluku province) abandoned their homes the night of the 29th for safer ground after a tsunami alert was issued. The population fled after an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale was registered off the coast of the Maluku Islands, eastern Indonesia, forcing the authorities to sound the alarm, which was eventually called off. People found refuge in the villages of Un and Kampung Raja and on Masbait Hill. A local governmental building is now used as a temporary shelter for panicked residents, but the picture of the situation on the two islands remains unclear due to poor communications. It is known though that residents still refuse to go home until they are certain that the tsunami danger is over.
8/30 -
INDONESIA - For 3 months, a sea of hot mud has been gushing from the ground in Sidoarjo, East Java, 35 kilometres south of Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya. The steaming mud pool is growing at an estimated 50,000 cubic metres a day, accompanied by hydrogen sulphide gas, and now reportedly covers more than 25 square kilometres. The flow has not yet been stopped; thousands of people have lost their homes. Mud and gas accumulates when sea sediments are trapped in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate slides under another, and can erupt out of volcanic cones or simply from a crack in the ground. But the Sidoarjo mud volcano is RATHER UNUSUAL. It's huge. And reports of the mud eruption suggest that it is a hybrid between typical mud volcanoes and hydrothermal vents. The mud is of an UNUSUALLY high temperature (60 °C) and contains enormously high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide gas. This suggests that some kind of volcanic, hydrothermal activity is going on at the same time. According to many geological experts, the scale of this mud volcano is UNPRECEDENTED — at least on land. In 1945, the Makran earthquake in Pakistan triggered the sudden emergence of three offshore mud volcanoes, and in March 1999 a mud volcano rose out of the water overnight to form Malan Island, 3 kilometres from Pakistan's coast.
8/24 -
INDONESIA - Thousands of people on the Indonesian island of Java have been forced from their homes by tonnes of hot mud and gas. The sludge, which has been spewing out of the ground for more than two months, is the result of a crack in a gas drilling project near Indonesia's second city, Surabaya. Despite attempts by government officials and the company involved, so far nothing has managed to contain the flow. The mud now covers around 20 square kilometres. Climb up a bank of earth at the outskirts of Shiring village and you see it - a lake of mud stretching for kilometre after kilometre. A white plume of gas marks the spot where it all started; a crack in the earth spewing out steaming sludge. "The mud came up to our chest, we didn't have time to save anything from the house, we just ran to save our lives." The government is anxious to keep the sludge away from any other residential areas and is putting its faith into a series of dams meant to contain the growing lake. Trucks carrying mounds of earth to build these new barriers rumble up and down the main highway every couple of minutes, but the dams have not always proved effective. Earlier this month, a barrier around the village of Shiring burst, causing a second wave of refugees. The rainy season is due to begin in two months time, and plans to build a stronger, concrete barrier to cope with it have not convinced many of the experts brought in to find a solution. Heavy rainfall, they say, could break through the barrier in a matter of hours. Pressure from environmentalists has so far prevented them from using the river to divert tonnes of sludge into the Java Sea. (photos)
8/21 -
INDONESIA has recorded 186 destructive earthquakes hitting the country in the past 377 years, including 110 quakes that triggered tsunami. The 186 destructive quakes hit different areas in Indonesia from 1629 to 2005, with Sumatra ranking first by recording 45 quakes and 26 tsunami disasters and Maluku ranking second by registering 41 quakes and 33 tsunami disasters. Sumatra was more frequently hit by earthquakes, but Maluku was more severely devastated by the quakes as 80% of the 41 quakes jolting that region were followed by tsunami disasters.
8/3 -
INDONESIA - It is over two weeks since a tsunami hit Java's southern coast, but some 10,000 people sheltering in camps are still refusing to go back to their fully intact houses. After the series of natural disasters in Indonesia, they are simply too scared to go home. Many admit they did not see the tsunami coming but almost everyone vows they heard it. “It roared, like a jet plane taking off.” While the death toll has approached nearly 700, estimates of the number of people whose homes have been destroyed ranges from 10,000 to 15,000. The tsunami destroyed 63 hotels, 163 stores, 162 restaurants and 600 street kiosks as well as 21 fish markets and close to 2,000 fishing boats. “So many disasters; tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes; one after another. What’s next?”
------------------------------------
7/30 -
INDONESIA - MT. KARANGETAN LAVA FLOW THREATENS VILLAGES - Flows of lava accompanied by showers of molten rock shooting into the sky have forced villagers living close to Mount Karangetan volcano in eastern Indonesia to shelter in schools and churches, officials said on Saturday. There did not appear to be a danger of a major eruption by Mount Karangetan at the moment but the lava continued to threaten nearby villages. There have been no reports of casualties so far from the volcano on Siau island, which lies north of Manado on Sulawesi island, 2,200 km (1,365 miles) northeast of the capital Jakarta.
7/26 -
INDONESIA - Repeated seismic tremors in Indonesia have made the people completely paranoid: the syndrome has hit especially those employees who work in Jakarta’s skyscrapers. Nowadays, they prefer to stay outdoors chatting with colleagues rather than sitting at their desks inside. A chain of cell phone and email messages raising the alarm about possible tremors is generating a climate of paranoia and fear. But the panic is not limited to Jakarta alone. On the 24th, thousands of people in Banteng, Bulukumba and Jeneponto – South Sulawesi province – left their homes on the coast en masse to take refuge in higher land after a false tsunami alert. After slight tremors in the area, the surface of the ocean lowered, giving rise to fears of the onset of a freak wave.
There is no let-up in tremors in Indonesia, where people are living in fear and tourists have started to cancel their bookings, leaving hotels and beaches empty amid persistent tsunami alerts. Works are underway to boost alarm systems against freak waves in the country’s highest-risk areas.
7/24 -
INDONESIA - Scientists have warned residents of the country's southern coasts to be alert to the danger of earthquakes and ensuing tsunamis due to seismic activity from ocean faults and plates. "We believe that faults along the line are 'queuing' to release their seismic power. We must anticipate the phenomenon." They identified Padang in West Sumatra, Bengkulu, the Sunda Strait between Lampung and Banten, the southern part of West Nusa Tenggara, Banda Island in Maluku, Sorong in Papua, Palu and Manado in Sulawesi as prone to quakes. "However, we, as well as not even one scientist around the globe, cannot predict where and when it would happen." Java, as well as part of Sumatra, have been rocked by a series of earthquakes following Monday's deadly tsunami that devastated the southern coast. The most recent earthquake hit Wednesday evening, with its epicenter in the Sunda Strait between Lampung on Sumatra's southern tip and Banten in western Java. The 6.2-magnitude quake was felt in Jakarta. In the case of the Sunda Strait, people should continue to be alert because although Wednesday's quake did not cause any damage or tsunamis, the areas were near the Sunda subduction zones, site of a convergence between a sinking plate and an overriding plate. Tectonic movements might follow a 30-year cycle, occurring in almost the same place as years previously. Because of the 2004 quake in Aceh and 2005 temblor in Nias, North Sumatra, they would likely experience similar activity in the next three decades. Major quakes as powerful as 9 on the Richter scale had occurred in 1833 and 1861 near Aceh and Nias, with epicenters near the one in 2004 and 2005.
7/23 -
INDONESIA - There is no let-up in alerts about possible further natural disasters in Indonesia, after a tsunami struck the areas of Cilacap and Pangandaran on Java island on July 17, and a strong tremor was recorded only two days later in Sunda Strait, west of the capital. Experts have warned residents of areas like Banten, Tangerang and Jakarta to be on “maximum alert” and on the lookout for potential danger. Sunda Strait near Jakarta, just shaken by a strong tremor, is at the centre of attention, but so far it has been spared by freak waves. In Sunda Strait, “there is a seismic threat on two fronts: on the one hand, there are tectonic movements in the ocean, and on the other, there is growing activity of the dangerous volcano of Krakatau mountain between Java and Sumatra.”
7/26 -
INDONESIA - Researchers have found that water resources in the tsunami-affected areas in Kerala are still severely affected almost two years after the disaster of December 2004. They found that wells contained an unusual saline character and taste. The low oxygen content dissolved in the ground water collected from wells indicated the slow deterioration of quality as a result of contamination. Wells that were de-watered and cleaned regularly were also found to retain the saltiness. Water Quality Index was also low in most of the areas that were hit by the crashing waves.
INDONESIA - Researchers have found that water resources in the tsunami-affected areas in Kerala are still severely affected almost two years after the disaster of December 2004. They found that wells contained an unusual saline character and taste. The low oxygen content dissolved in the ground water collected from wells indicated the slow deterioration of quality as a result of contamination. Wells that were de-watered and cleaned regularly were also found to retain the saltiness. Water Quality Index was also low in most of the areas that were hit by the crashing waves.
7/23 -
INDONESIA - The death toll in the tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Java has risen to more than 650. Around 100 new bodies have been found in recent days. More than 300 people are still missing after Monday's disaster.
7/21 -
INDONESIA - Powerful aftershocks continued to rattle survivors of the Java coast earthquake and tsunami on Thursday, as rescue workers dug through the ruins and tended to the injured in a devastated Indonesian beach town. The tsunami death toll as of Thursday stood at 531.
7/20 -
Embarassed US scientists are revising earthquake analysis procedures after an inexperienced overnight team failed to quickly review the major earthquake that caused the tsunami which killed more than 550 in Indonesia. The United States Geological Survey typically provides very quick, accurate data on earthquakes worldwide, but on Monday took six hours before they gave the accurate 7.7 magnitude for the quake that hit 345km south of Jakarta. A scientist is supposed to review the automated findings manually within 10 minutes, but in the early morning hours between Sunday and Monday in Colorado that did not take place for an hour. It was six hours later when others started arriving during regular business hours that geologists calculated the Indonesia quake was actually a 7.7 - or three times larger in ground motion than a 7.2 and more than five times larger in terms of the amount of energy released.
7/19 -
The death toll in the Indonesian tsunami rose to at least 340 yesterday, with more than 600 people injured, as rescue workers recovered bodies from coconut trees and the rubble of flattened homes. Many residents did not even feel the quake this time. As the sea receded, some escaped to higher ground. But others did not notice the warning sign, because the tide was already low. Alerts were issued by two regional monitoring centres but were not sent on to threatened communities, because the authorities did not want to cause unnecessary alarm. Indonesia has experienced a string of disasters since the 2004 tsunami, including an earthquake in May that claimed nearly 6,000 lives. Indonesians are calling their country "the disaster supermarket".
INDONESIA has installed a tsunami warning system across much of Sumatra island but not on Java where the 6-foot-high tsunami struck. There were regional bulletins about the 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake, but they did not reach the nation's main island. A witness saw the ocean withdraw 500 yards from the beach a half-hour before the giant wave smashed to shore. "I could see fish jumping around on the ocean floor. Later I saw a wave like a black wall." Roads were blocked and power cut to much of the area. Damage and casualties were reported at several spots along the 110 miles of beach affected.
7/18 -
INDONESIA - The death toll from a tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Java has risen to at least 245. About 450 people have been injured and 52,700 people have been displaced. Another 140 people are reported missing in the worst-hit area of Pangandaran. The tsunami was triggered by a 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake that struck off Pangandaran on Monday afternoon, causing a 2m-high wave. At first light, rescuers were confronted with the sight of bodies in the branches of trees, and in the debris of smashed hotels and houses. One resident said high waves had destroyed hotels in Pangandaran and thrown boats onto the beach. Tremors from the earthquake were felt in the capital, Jakarta, for more than a minute, but there were no reports of damage or casualties there. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had issued tsunami warnings for parts of Indonesia and Australia, and the Japan Meteorological Agency also warned of localised tsunamis. Police in Australia's Christmas Island reported a 60cm surge but no damage, while India authorities issued a tsunami warning for the Andaman and Nicobar islands, which are located west of Indonesia. But the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on its website that based on historical and current data, "a more widespread tsunami threat probably does not exist".
Witnesses said "very many" flimsy homes along the coast for at least 20 miles in each direction had been destroyed as two waves, about seven metres (23ft) and two metres high, surged ashore. The water was reportedly waist-deep more than half a mile inland. Much damage was inflicted by hundreds of wooden fishing boats becoming battering rams as they ploughed through shacks and fields. Power failed and fixed phone lines were cut. Rescue teams said the toll was likely to rise significantly because they were still searching through rubble, many roads were impassable, many houses had been washed away and in pitch darkness it was difficult to see corpses.
"We all felt the quake, but the first we knew of the tsunami was a roar. When we looked up, we saw fishing boats sort of jumping in the air out in the bay...Boats were going down the street. There were about six waves. The second was the biggest and the locals said it was as high as the point, I guess about four or five metres."
Tsunami photos.
6/14 -
INDONESIA - The earthquake that hit Indonesia at the end of May has caused more damage than the tsunami of 2004. The impact of the Java earthquake was much worse than first thought and could be considered as ONE OF THE WORST NATURAL DISASTERS OF THE PAST 10 YEARS.
6/6 -
INDONESIA - says there are still problems reaching earthquake victims with many roads into the worst-hit areas gridlocked with convoys of trucks carrying volunteer relief workers and supplies. The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands of Indonesian quake survivors are still desperately in need of shelter, and that building materials are urgently needed.
6/2 -
INDONESIA - Rescue workers are still finding bodies in the wreckage of villages in Indonesia's earthquake disaster zone. The quake killed at least 6,234 people, according to government figures, which also estimate that 130,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged.
------------------------------
5/31 -
INDONESIA - Survivors of the devastating quake on Java say rumours of an incoming tsunami touched off panic in cities and villages that left many injured, and it also hindered rescue efforts. Reports filtered in of victims trapped for hours in collapsed houses as residents fled to higher ground and didn't feel secure enough to return home until hours later. In Bantul, the hardest hit region where most homes were flattened, the roads leading to elevated areas like Gadunonlateu and Slarong were filled with refugees after the earthquake. The Yogyakarta area lies on broad flat coastal plain more than 16 kilometres from the ocean. Indonesian authorities and scientists have dismissed the possibility that a tsunami could sweep so far inland. Yet the message has not been broadly accepted by the public. "If only people did not run away because of tsunami rumours, people hit by the ruins of their homes could have been saved." "People reported that there would be a tsunami and radio stations repeated this without checking the truth."
5/30 -
INDONESIA - the latest in a series of strong temblors to jolt Indonesia in the past four days occurred this morning. A 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the easternmost Indonesian province of Papua, but there were no reports of injuries or damage. The earthquake's epicentre was on land about 147-kilometres southwest of Papua's capital of Jayapura, and took place at about 33 kilometres under the earth. The quake triggered panic among residents in Wamena and Jayapura.
5/29 -
INDONESIA - The number of the people killed in Saturday's powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia's island of Java jumped to nearly 5,000 as rescuers continue to dig for survivors. About 450 aftershocks have shaken the region as of midday on Sunday, with the strongest measuring magnitude 5.2. There were "literally" fault lines in the roads caused by the earthquake. However, while many buildings were destroyed, or partially destroyed, some were still standing. "It really was a whim of the earthquake."
Heavy rain late on Sunday made conditions worse for the 200,000 people left homeless by the quake.
5/28 -
INDONESIA - A dawn 6.2 earthquake killed more than 3,000 people around the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta Friday, burying many under the rubble of their homes in a scene survivors said was like the end of the world. "Buildings shook like pendulums, I thought it was Armageddon." The wards and corridors of Sarjito hospital in Yogyakarta city were crammed with injured survivors. It was the third major tremor to hit Indonesia in 18 months, the worst being the quake on Dec. 26, 2004 and its resulting tsunami. As the scale of the devastation became clear, focus turned to the effect the violent tremors may have had on Mount Merapi, the volcano 24km from Yogyakarta that is on high alert for a major eruption. Vulcanologists monitoring the situation noticed an immediate increase in activity in the aftermath of the earthquake. Hot, dense gas clouds were reported stretching 4km down Merapi's mountainside, just short of their length before the volcano's last major eruption.
5/26 -
INDONESIA - A tectonic earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's Papua provincial capital of Jayapura and Sarmi Wednesday evening, causing one man to die of a heart attack and hundreds of people to flee to upland areas in fear of a tsunami.
5/18 -
INDONESIA - The strong 6.4 earthquake that shook Indonesia's island of Nias in the late hours of Tuesday caused visible cracks in the land. The epicentre of the quake was in the Indian Ocean. No one was hurt during the jolts. Despite the cracked land, there are no reports of damaged buildings.
4/18 -
INDONESIA - A strong tectonic earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale has hit the Mount Karangetang area in the north of Indonesia. The quake was centered 200 kilometers under the seabed of Siau island in the country's northernmost region and there have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties. It comes as Indonesia prepares for the possible evacuation of nearly 30-thousand people living on the slopes of Java's simmering volcano Mount Merapi.
-----------------
3/31 -
INDONESIA - U.S. researchers have warned that the fault that caused the devastating earthquake in Indonesia in December 2004 could still cause some big ruptures. Analysis of the damage of a quake that followed in the same area three months later shows potential for large movements south of the 2004 and 2005 ruptures. "This southern part is very likely about ready to go again. It could devastate the coastal communities of southwestern Sumatra, including the cities of Padang and Bengkulu, with a combined population of well over a million people. It could happen tomorrow, or it could happen 30 years from now, but I'd be surprised if it were delayed much beyond that." The 2004 quake caused dramatic warping and uplift among the islands and coral atolls in the Sumatran archipelago.
3/17 -
INDONESIA - The March 15th 6.4 earthquake, and 5 metre tidal wave that occurred in the aftermath of the earthquake, has caused two fatalities, and seriously injured one person. One person has been reported as missing. The quake also caused heavy damage to houses in Pela Village (116), Batu Jungku Village (54), Waimorot Village (30), Wailawa Village (25), and Waimoly Village (16). It has not been specified whether these damaged houses are easily repaired or still habitable. Some 1,200 persons from Batu Jungku and Pelang Village of Bata Bual Sub-District fled from their homes to higher/mountainous areas.
3/2 -
** Regions of the Earth previously thought to be immune to giant earthquakes might actually be at high risk of experiencing them, according to a Caltech study released Wednesday. The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake had a magnitude of 9.15, making it the third-largest earthquake in the past 100 years. "This earthquake didn't just break all the records, it also broke some of the rules." The oceanic crust at the site of the 2004 earthquake is old and dense, and the relative motion between the plates is slow. "For all these reasons, received wisdom said that the giant 2004 earthquake should not have occurred." Other subduction zones that were not previously considered to be a risk, but may need to be reassessed, include the Ryukyu Islands between Taiwan and Japan and the Caribbean from Trinidad to Barbados and Puerto Rico.
------------------------------

2005 -
12/29 -
INDIA - Fishermen wonder about new phenomenon following the tsunami: Decline in fish catch, appearance of the deadly 'puffers' and a weak 'chakara' phenomenon are developments in the aftermath of the tsunami that have left the fishermen in the coastal areas here puzzled and looking for answers. The fishermen wonder aloud if the tsunami has overturned the internal structure of the ocean. Among the most noticeable phenomenon in the months following the tsunami was the decline in the availability of fish, especially the much sought after varieties like prawns and pomfrets. Another disquieting development has been the sudden appearance of the puffer fish, which destroy fishnet and eat small fish. Fishermen say puffer fish are usually seen in the Indian Ocean and wonder if these have been evacuated to the Arabian Sea coast due to the tsunami. Another major development being attributed to the tsunami is the near disappearance of the annual 'chakara' formation along the Alappuzha coast during the monsoon this year. The 'chakara', which refers to the depositing of piscine-rich mud banks along the backwaters of Ashtamudi and Vembanadu during the monsoon, was absent this year. In another clearly visible change, the sea has withdrawn up to sixty meters from the land in these areas following the tsunami. While no change is seen in the sand banks, the fishermen fear whether the sea will ram onto the land with deadly force.
12/23 -
800 tsunami bodies remain unidentified , many never will be. Almost a year on, Australian experts are still on the ground in Thailand dealing with the appalling aftermath of the Indonesian tsunami.
Last December was the second year running that a natural disaster cast a gloom over the festive season. In 2003 an earthquake in the Iranian city of Bam claimed 31,000 lives. The final toll from the tsunami, one of history's biggest natural disasters, is more than 230,000 reported dead and missing. An estimated 1.5 million people are believed to still be displaced. Work is finally under way to install a tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean.
12/20 -
BANDA ACEH - There's enough tsunami trash in this Indonesian city to make a three-storey-high pile covering 30 football fields. In Sri Lanka, the volume of waste dumped in lagoons and waterways is more than twice what was generated by the September 11 attacks. The environmental devastation in the worst-hit countries is immense, yet experts say it pales in comparison with what humans had already managed to inflict before the giant waves struck on December 26, 2004. In the Maldives, many of the 1,100 islands are uninhabitable because they are covered in trash, and wells that provided drinking water for more than a quarter of the population are contaminated. The tsunami destruction was mostly localised and overall it pales in comparison to years of rampant development and dynamite fishing, experts say. And experts fear rebuilding could contribute to illegal logging, overfishing and unchecked coastal construction.
12/15 -
THAILAND - Tsunami false alarm sparked panic - An engineer installing Thailand's disaster early warning system accidentally sounded alarms on the Andaman Sea coast, causing thousands to run for their lives. A television station showed panicked masses evacuating coastal villages, where 5,400 people died in last year's tsunami. A few accidents and injuries were reported. The early warning system is scheduled to be tested on December 16, ten days ahead of the memorial service for the one-year anniversary of the tsunami.
Nearly a year after the Indonesian tsunami, 1.5 million people are still living in tents, barracks and temporary homes.
A "dead zone" has been discovered at the epicentre of last year's tsunami, four kilometres down in the Indian Ocean. Five months after the disaster scientists were shocked to find no sign of life around the epicentre, which opened up a 1000-metre chasm on the ocean floor. There was nothing but eerie emptiness. "The sea is rich in life, and you'd expect a site like this to be quickly recolonised, but that hasn't happened. It's UNPRECEDENTED."
12/11 -
UNITED KINGDOM - The harrowing words of an orphaned boy were read out as the mass inquest into the deaths of Britons killed in the Asian tsunami ended in sombre silence, with the names of the UK's 151 victims remembered. It took more than five minutes for all the names to be shown on a screen at the hearing in London.
THAILAND - Officials in Thailand have been shocked by the discovery of the remains of a female believed to be a Western tourist who perished in last year's devastating Asian tsunami. Thailand suffered 5,400 deaths and about 3,000 missing. Half of the dead were European tourists, with the majority from Sweden. The skeletal remains were found on the holiday island of Phuket.
12/7 -
ENERGY PULSES - The magnitude 9.2 earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December of 2004 originated just off the coast of northern Sumatra, but an "energy pulse" – an area where slip on the fault was much greater – created the largest waves, some 100 miles from the epicenter. Seismologists have mapped these energy pulses for Sumatra and are trying to learn more about them to predict better when and where tsunamis may occur. "It seems that the largest Cascadia earthquakes have three pulses. And core data show that more than half of the earthquakes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific Northwest Coast of the United States are of this large type that appear to generate three rupture sequences." Earthquake "pulses" are releases of energy from areas of high slip along the main fault. The energy pulses, which are part of the earthquake sequence and take place almost immediately, differ from aftershocks. It appears the Indian Ocean fault is rupturing in a southerly direction and that Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, may be next in line for a major earthquake. But whether that quake takes place in weeks or years remains to be seen.
TSUNAMI - The first research expedition to directly observe the seafloor near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has revealed unexpected results that will dramatically improve forecasting of future tsunamis. The research team found far fewer underwater landslides and generally less widespread disturbance of the seafloor than would have been expected given the size of the earthquake. “That might mean that we’re safer than we realize, because the material in that environment might be dissipating the seismic energy more than we thought.” The updated model was applied to a fault off the Oregon coast called Cascadia, which has been moving 6 centimeters per year since the last large earthquake occurred in the area in 1700 and where seismologists have long predicted another large earthquake, possibly up to 9.2 in magnitude, could occur. The refined model now predicts that an earthquake of that size could generate tsunami wave run-ups of up to 30 meters in some locations along the Pacific Northwest coast – almost three times higher than previously predicted – and significant waves could reach as far away as Japan and Russia. “Communities in Oregon and Washington have been anticipating waves of only 10 to 12 meters or so, but now they need to be even better prepared.”
12/1 -
One year later, officials still aren't exactly sure how many people died in the Indian Ocean tsunami, a tally of conservative government figures puts the number of dead and missing at more than 216,000 in 11 countries. Tens of thousands of bodies were washed out to sea, local government offices were destroyed and personal records lost. In some places, census details that formed the basis of missing persons lists are hopelessly out of date. 34,749 to 50,156 are listed as missing, and most of those are presumed to be dead.
11/18 -
INDONESIA - Monitoring land movements is important to see whether the collapsed land masses will reverse or continue to sink further, which would alter the area's landscape. New land masses have appeared in the north-west of the Andaman Islands. "Between landfall and north Andaman island, one can see new land masses about 100 sq metres in size." But in the south-eastern Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands, land had sunk by 90cm to 1.5m resulting in the coral reefs and mangroves almost completely disappearing. "Some areas of the Port Blair land mass had caved in after the tsunami by about 90cm and now it has reversed back by another 10cm."
INDIA - Eleven months after last December's tsunami wreaked havoc, a detailed impact assessment report says that violation of guidelines regulating building construction along the sea coasts was responsible for the large number of deaths and damage to property in India. The report, which has a separate assessment on the havoc wrecked on the islands of Andaman and Nicobar, says mangrove and coral reefs have been severely affected impacting fishing activity on the islands. Touching on the post-tsunami impact on the tribal populations of the islands, some of which were entirely wiped out by the deadly waves, the "most imperative task now is that the displaced people be taken back to their own part of the island".
11/17 -
The first stage in the installation of a tsunami early-warning system has gotten underway off the coast of Indonesia. After eight months of designing, testing and surveying, the first two early-warning buoys are ready. There is almost universal agreement that the Sumatran fault line is still unstable and therefore another big earthquake is likely. Nobody knows when, but with luck, the next time there should be a better warning system and that could save thousands of lives.
A Landslide Did Not Cause the December 26 Asian Tsunami - New geological evidence shows that seafloor uplift from the 9.2 magnitude Great Sumatra earthquake - not a giant underwater landslide as previously thought - caused the devastating December 26, 2004, Asian tsunami. This information is revealed in Discovery Channel's original special, AMERICA'S TSUNAMI: ARE WE NEXT?, which premieres in the U.S. on Sunday, December 18, at 9 PM (ET/PT). The next potential tsunami target is the northwest region of the United States (northern California and coastal areas of Oregon and Washington) because its fault lines are a mirror image of those in the Indian Ocean subduction zone, with potential waves as high as 90 feet.
11/8 -
INDONESIA - The impact of the December 2004 tsunami was "trivial" compared to the destruction caused by humans. "Chronic human misuse" had far greater repercussions for reefs closest to the epicentre of the Sumatra earthquake. Damage to reefs on the north-west coast of Aceh Indonesia, where the tsunami was most ferocious, was "surprisingly limited". In contrast, reefs exposed to destructive human practices such as dynamite and cyanide fishing, and to land runoff from fertilisers and sediment, had turned from once vibrant coral colonies into "graveyards". Humans were responsible for 80 per cent of the damage to 49 coral reefs in the study site, while the tsunami was thought to have caused as little as five to 10 per cent. Researchers also found there was no evidence to back claims that healthy, intact reefs could offer protection from tsunamis. "Whether you've got a healthy reef or no reef, it doesn't make any difference – when a big tsunami hits, you're in trouble."
11/3 -
INDIA - Researchers, who conducted post-tsunami studies on the coastline from Poompuhar to Nagoor in the central coast of TN, have ruled out the possibility of recurrence of tsunami, at least for another 40 to 50 years. ‘‘There is possibility of a tsunami only when there is an earthquake in Sumatra, measuring above 9 on the Richter Scale. However, this has happened only once in 50 years. The last time it measured over 9 on the Richter Scale was in 2004. Earlier, it had occurred in 1949, 1900 and 1833 at a regular interval of 50 years.’’ The present generation, who witnessed the havoc caused by the tsunami, need not worry about its recurrence during their life time.
------------------------ AUGUST -
Since the tsunami, an earthquake and high tides have changed Indonesia's coastal topography. The massive tsunami that crashed into Sumatra island in December ripped Ibu Yusniar's home from its concrete foundation. But while the woman survived, wrapping her arms around a column in a nearby mosque to ride out the surging waters, nature was not through. Three months later, the sea gobbled up part of her land when another huge earthquake struck. Then, the full-moon tides in July completed the job, reducing the balance of her property in Lhok Bubon village to salty swamp. "The tide came in and it didn't go out." Dramatic shifts in topography are continuing to reshape Sumatra, hampering efforts to conduct the gargantuan task of reconstruction. Rain, high tides, westerly winds and erosion have further recast the shoreline and rerouted rivers. "Things that usually happen over hundreds of years are happening here over three to six months. This is really a unique situation." "The land keeps changing. The coast keeps coming. Every tide makes it worse." Fishermen complain that they are no longer sure where to dock their few remaining boats because the shoreline seems to change daily. The shifting shoreline has affected reconstruction all along the west coast, including a U.S.-funded initiative to rebuild the 150-mile highway between Meulaboh and Banda Aceh. U.N. officials warn that the province's only major infrastructure project already underway - the reconstruction of Meulaboh's port - could also be jeopardized by the changes.
8/19 -
Certain areas of the Andaman Sea have been tested and found to have an abnormally high ocean temperature of between 31-32 Celsius degrees, said marine scientists. Scientists have yet to find the reason for the higher ocean temperature. Coral reefs at these sites are threatened by coral bleaching phenomenon. Last year's tsunami had limited impact on coral reefs in the Andaman Sea, which is now more threatened by the bleaching phenomenon. The coral bleaching phenomenon have become an annual event for the Andaman Sea in recent years. Many coral reefs in the Andaman Sea have now turned a pale yellow, pink or white color and have gradually died off. In 1998, an El Nino global coral bleaching event caused the deaths of many coral reefs, a disaster occurring only once in 1,000 years.
Since the tsunami, an earthquake and high tides have changed Indonesia's coastal topography. The massive tsunami that crashed into Sumatra island in December ripped Ibu Yusniar's home from its concrete foundation. But while the woman survived, wrapping her arms around a column in a nearby mosque to ride out the surging waters, nature was not through. Three months later, the sea gobbled up part of her land when another huge earthquake struck. Then, the full-moon tides in July completed the job, reducing the balance of her property in Lhok Bubon village to salty swamp. "The tide came in and it didn't go out." Dramatic shifts in topography are continuing to reshape Sumatra, hampering efforts to conduct the gargantuan task of reconstruction. Rain, high tides, westerly winds and erosion have further recast the shoreline and rerouted rivers. "Things that usually happen over hundreds of years are happening here over three to six months. This is really a unique situation." "The land keeps changing. The coast keeps coming. Every tide makes it worse." Fishermen complain that they are no longer sure where to dock their few remaining boats because the shoreline seems to change daily. The shifting shoreline has affected reconstruction all along the west coast, including a U.S.-funded initiative to rebuild the 150-mile highway between Meulaboh and Banda Aceh. U.N. officials warn that the province's only major infrastructure project already underway - the reconstruction of Meulaboh's port - could also be jeopardized by the changes.
JULY -
COMING SOON

APRIL -
Fear of another earthquake and possible tsunami are prevalent amongst the populations of both Nias and Simeulue, aggravated by frequent and continuing aftershocks, and the majority of people continue to sleep outdoors. Large numbers of the 78,000 residents of Simeulue are also reportedly moving to higher ground. Assessment reports on Simeulue are confirming indications of more severe damage on the western and southern coasts than had been thought in the early days following the second earthquake. Estimates of 70-100 percent building damage in some villages are being confirmed. All remaining school structures on Simeulue that had survived the 26 December quake collapsed after the second upheaval. High seas, broken port facilities and heavily damaged road and bridge infrastructures continue to impose serious challenges to a comprehensive humanitarian response.
A temporary tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean region has come into operation, as scientists warned that the massive tremors that caused the December 26 disaster last year was likely to cause a series of major earthquakes.
April 26 -
A new study predicts that the devastating Sumatran earthquake, which resulted in the tragic tsunami of 26 December 2004, will have left a ‘scar’ on Earth’s gravity that could be detected by a sensitive new satellite, due for launch next year. Seismological data suggests that, during the event, the seafloor on either side of a fault line running for 1000 km along the bottom of the Indian Ocean dramatically changed height, producing a ledge, 6 metres high. Such a large-scale movement will change the gravitational field of the Earth. The Earth’s gravity altered, in an instant, by as much as is expected from six years' worth of melting at the Patagonian Ice Fields in southernmost South America.
A study has revealed that the Dec 26 tsunami considerably changed Tamil Nadu's shoreline in India.
Anatahan continues to steam after its largest eruption in recorded history on April 6, 2005. This major eruption was a continuation of its third historical eruption, which began early in January 2005. Anatahan is located in the Northern Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean and has been responsible for blanketing Guam and other nearby islands with volcanic haze.
The week-long eruption of Mount Karthala on the main island in the Indian Ocean Comoros archipelago, is over, experts said Saturday, but they did not rule out the possibility of further eruptions.
April 11 -
Several powerful earthquakes struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island yesterday. First a 6.8 quake hit last night near Siberut Island, 109km southwest of Painan, a neighbouring town to Padang, causing panic among residents fearful of another tsunami. It was followed by quakes of 5.8, 6.3, 5.5, 5.9, 5.3, 5.2 and 6.4.

The tremors come two weeks after the massive 8.7 earthquake centered on the same Indian Ocean geological faultline.
In March in the village of Afulu, on Nias' northwest coast, when the 8.7 quake started just after 11pm local time, buildings collapsed and the noise, like a train grinding on a track, was deafening. Violent shaking showed no sign of slowing. People began to panic that another tsunami was on its way, and that fear intensified as aftershocks came every five minutes for the next 12 hours. The aftershocks made people "seasick". "They were throwing up everywhere just from the motion of the ground." Later at the beach, they found the ground had risen three metres, exposing hundreds of metres of reef. Bridges had caved in and there were huge cracks in the roads.
Two small tsunami waves were reported off the coast of Sri Lanka after the 8.7 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia on March 28. The waves measured a maximum height of 2.3 meters (7.6 feet) on the southern coast and 0.5 meters (1.65 feet) tall on the western coast. They were recorded at both locations approximately three hours after the earthquake.
An incredible number of large aftershocks continue to shake Indonesia.
U.S. doctors warn of small but alarming rates of a flesh-eating type of superbug. Patients appear to have caught the MRSA infection that attacks the skin outside of hospital. At a centre in California, 14 patients were identified between 2003 and 2004, and although none of the 14 patients died, they had serious complications, including the need for reconstructive surgery and prolonged stay in the intensive care unit.
---------------
MARCH 2005 -
Indonesia 'can't handle next disaster' - Troubled efforts to help survivors on Indonesia's quake-hit Nias island were mitigated by tsunami aid already in place, but the country risks greater loss in the future unless its relief infrastructure is strengthened, officials say. Logistical nightmares have dogged the arrival of aid on the remote tropical island where broken roads and a shortage of petrol meant relief workers were still struggling to reach people in isolated areas six days after the December 2004 9.3 quake, even as new aftershocks claimed possible fresh casualties and spread panic. The Welfare Minister said the country's national disaster agency, Bakornas, was inadequate for the coming catastrophes that scientists say are a near certainty.
The massive tremor that struck northern Indonesia this week has confirmed experts' fears that a December earthquake set off a domino effect of seismic instability that could last decades and kill thousands.
An Australian scientist says it is only a matter of time before another quake strikes Indonesia. "We can be 100 percent certain that there will be more quakes after this...But the problem is we can't predict just when they will occur – they could occur tomorrow or 50 years from now...Some people have likened it to a zipper...If you start pulling it apart, it will sort of pop, pop, pop. The fact that one has gone it's likely the next one is going to go and then the next one." It is likely any future quake would occur south of the latest.
An expert is warning of a third massive earthquake off Sumatra. He says that the 8.7 quake has made another massive earthquake in the region more likely. After the December quake he warned that there was a likelihood of two more quakes in the region. “The location of the latest quake is exactly were we warned it would be...We said there were two locations off Sumatra where the stresses had been increased by the Boxing Day earthquake and were likely to indicate another earthquake. From the information we have received it looks as if this is one of them, this will be confirmed in the next few hours...We were concerned about two events and it looks like this is one of them.” Ominously he warned that the latest quake is likely to have added to the stresses on the earth’s crust at the second site he was worried about and makes a third massive quake a reality. “It seems to me that this earthquake will also increase the stresses on the other site and make another quake more likely.” The fault line for the other site “runs right through the city of Banda Aceh” on the northern tip of Sumatra, he said. The study of data overnight will detail whether he is right. “We will be doing comparisons of stress levels over the next 12 hours,” he said.
The huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra was part of a domino effect from the devastating December quake, a seismologist said today. December's quake and today's occurred on a geological subduction line which is 5000km long. "I'm not saying that this domino effect will move the whole way around, but the parts of the fault which haven't broken yet will experience some stress as a result of what happened...One of the faults we looked at was in the trans-subduction zones. It seems, from the information I have at the minute, that that was the one that has failed today...It's too early yet to say what the effect will be. But the next part of the line will certainly experience some stress as a result of this."

--------------------


Friday, December 31, 2004
*Five days after Sunday's massive earthquake and giant tsunami
created one of the worst natural disasters the world has seen,
the number of dead continues to rise and has surged past 120,000.
*More than 27,000 Sri Lankans were killed by Sunday's tsunami
and one in 12 Sri Lankans has reportedly been left homeless.
The Sri Lankan population is dazed by the death and destruction,
and fears another tsunami could hit.
*There are many eyewitness accounts of birds and animals migrating
before earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The scientific evidence
for them possessing a sixth sense is lacking, but if the reports are
confirmed, they could possibly be used in the future as
an early warning system for humans.
*The desperate attempts of three U.S. earthquake monitors to
warn nations situated on the Indian Ocean of the approaching
tsunami emerged yeasterday. A mere 18 minutes after the earthquake,
the officials issued a Pacific-wide e-mailed tsunami warning, but
realised that most potential victims were not among the center's
Pacific nation clients, because the biggest impact would be in the
Indian Ocean. They said, "We talked to the state department
Operations Centre and to the military. We called embassies. We
talked to the Navy in Sri Lanka, any local government official we
could get hold of." The desperate effort was to warn people
thousands of miles away to get off beaches. The frustration was
knowing that even if government leaders could be reached, most
countries had no effective civil defence mechanism for getting the
information to the people. The geophysicists worked through the
night sounding the warning as the tsunami continued to sweep
across the vast ocean basin.

Thursday, December 30, 2004
*India's last active volcano, in the Andaman and Nicobar islands,
has erupted in the aftermath of the earthquake that set off tsunamis.
The volcano, known as Barren 1, is located 135km north-east of the
capital Port Blair on Barren Island and last erupted in 1996.
*A mud volcano at the inhabited Baratang Island in Middle Andaman
has erupted but the administration said there was no cause for concern.
Mud keeps bubbling in the volcano and there is considerable heat. The
volcano is located on one side of the Baratang Island, which is
about 100 km from Port Blair. The Geological Survey of India said
that barring some aftershocks, it has not found any major activity in
the Andaman and Nicobar region, including eruption from any
of its dormant volcanoes.
*Thousands of bodies continue to wash up onshore along coasts
and up to five million people have been displaced by the tsunamis
that have killed over 125,000 people in Asia. Aftershocks
continue to rock traumatised survivors. Relief workers have
finally got to some remote areas on the west coast of Sumatra,
near the quake's epicentre. But many other areas are still out
of reach, and there are fears the death toll is likely to rise still further.
*BBC correspondents' reports: Most people at the relief centers say the
islands which were their homes until now are no longer inhabitable; People
are getting desperate; There are still bodies littered around...you walk
around the corner and there's more. It never seems to end; More and
more injured people are flooding in from places outside the city and
their injuries are often very badly infected.
*Some of the most vivid descriptions of the devastation in
southern Asia are on the internet in the form of web logs or blogs.
*The western coast of Sumatra has been "devastated" by
Sunday's earthquake and sea surges, according to an
Indonesian official who flew over it on Wednesday. Large
areas of the coast - the closest to the earthquake's epicentre -
are in ruins, villages covered in mud and few signs of life.
There has been no word from towns along the
coast since the disaster hit.
*Relief agencies struggled to rush aid to more than 3 million people
in Africa and Asia who lack food and medicine as the number of
fatalities from the weekend's earthquake and tsunamis passed
80,000, with more than half the dead in Indonesia. About 15%
of Sri Lanka's stricken areas will be unreachable for at least two
more days because of washed- out roads and bridges.
*The latest country-by-country breakdown of the missing and dead
tourists from Asian beach resorts.
*Thousands of people have fled coastal areas of southern
India in panic after a government warning of new tsunamis.
The alert was issued by officials in Tamil Nadu state who said aftershocks
in the Andaman and Nicobar islands were likely to cause high waves.
There have been a series of aftershocks in the Indian Ocean since
Sunday's earthquake, although none have triggered large waves so far.
*India's tangled bureaucracy bungled the first alerts of Sunday's tsunami,
losing precious time in which lives could have been saved,
newspapers reported today.
*Sri Lankan wildlife officials are stunned - the worst tsunami
in memory has killed around 22,000 people along the Indian
Ocean island's coast, but they can't find any dead animals.
No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit.
*The massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean was so huge that it
caused the Earth to rotate faster, shortening the day, Russian
scientists say. Because the diameter of the Earth decreased as
a result of a shift in tectonic plates, the speed of the Earth as it
rotates around its own axis was able to increase. Scientists
in Italian geological centers have concluded, meanwhile, that
the Earth's axis has shifted 6 centimeters eastwards.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004
*A series of strong earthquakes rocked Andaman and Nicobar
Islands today as aftershocks continued to rattle the region
three days after the devastating quake. So far 70 aftershocks have
rocked the region after the Sunday's massive earthquake. Two
quakes, measuring 5.7 and 6.1 on the Richter scale, jolted the
island territory in the span of 10 minutes this morning. It was not
yet clear whether any fresh casualty or damage was caused by
the latest quakes. Aftershocks continued to jolt Indonesia too,
with an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale being felt
near the country's west coast on Tuesday. Five temblors of a
magnitude 5.6 or greater have hit in the last 24 hours. 78,000 dead.
* The Andamans could rock for six months to a year, and beyond,
but another tsunami is unlikely. It is generally associated with quakes
registering magnitudes of 7.5 or more. The trend indicates the
magnitude of aftershocks is gradually coming down. It will take
time for the Earth to adjust to the undersea quake as the energy
released by the quake was nearly 2,700 times more than that
released by a magnitude 6 quake. There is no trend indicating
any increase in the frequency of earthquakes here over the long-term.
*Scientists describe the devastating earthquake off the island
of Sumatra as a "megathrust" – a grade reserved for the most
powerful shifts in the Earth's crust. By some estimates, it
was equal to detonating a million atomic bombs.
*Thailand's Meteorological Department may have delayed
sounding a tidal wave warning for fear it could damage
the country's lucrative tourism industry, officials have indicated.
*An enormous anthropological disaster is in the making as the killer
tsunami is feared to have wiped out entire tribes - already threatened
by their precariously small numbers - perhaps rendering them extinct
and snapping the slender tie with a lost generation.
*The death toll from the Asian tsunami, triggered by the magnitude
9.0 earthquake off Indonesia, has risen to 68,464 people.
*Organizations that need your help to aid victims of the tsunami.
*Desperate SOS calls are coming in from an obliterated coastline
which is emerging as ground zero for the seismic holocaust unleashed
on Asia. Great tracts of land remain under surging tides on the
northwest tip of Sumatra island. Food is running out, there is looting
and further catastrophe looms. Officials predict the death toll could
triple and if relief does not arrive within three to four days, there
will be mass starvation. As night fell three full days after the quake
there was still no contact with many parts of the worst-affected area.
During a reconnaissance flight over Meulaboh there appeared to be
no sign of life in the town, which was home to 40,000 people. In the
Aceh Jaya district, between Meulaboh and Banda Aceh, half of
the 95,000 people living in the region may have perished.
*BBC correspondents' tsunami reports from across Asia.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004
*The sea and wreckage of coastal towns all around the Indian
Ocean yielded up tens of thousands of bodies today, pushing
the death toll from the Asian tsunami to 59,186 people.
The death toll could reach more than 100,000, the head of Italy's
civil emergency relief services warned.
*Rescuers began reaching India's remote Andaman and Nicobar
islands today, two days after a devastating tsunami, to find
barely a third of residents on one were still alive.
There has still been no contact at all with several of the islands,
including one of the biggest, Grand Nicobar, which was
closest to the epicentre.
*The 9.0 earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was
so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently
altered the regional map. It may have moved small islands as much
as 20 metres to the south-west, according to one expert. The
energy released as the two sides of the undersea fault slipped against
each other made the Earth wobble on its axis. Other scientists
said it was more likely that the islands off Sumatra had risen higher
out of the sea than that they had moved laterally.
*Satellite images showed that the movement of undersea plates off
the northern tip of Sumatra moved the Nicobar Islands and Simeulue
Island out to sea by an unknown distance. Although the data showed
that plates more than 20km beneath the ocean's surface moved
dramatically, scientists will have to use handheld satellite positioning
systems at the sites to learn precisely how much the land masses
on the surface shifted. The scraping of one plate over another
may have ploughed up enough debris on the ocean floor to block
the port of Banda Aceh in Sumatra. Large earthquakes in the past
decade in Kobe, Japan, and Golcuk, Turkey, deformed the coastlines
and rendered their ports inoperable after the crises.
*BBC correspondents' tsunami reports from across Asia.
* Quakes in Indonesia magnitude 5.7 and over since the 9.0:
5.9, 5.8, 6.0, 5.8, 5.8, 6.0, 5.9, 6.1, 7.3, 5.7, 5.9, 5.8, 6.5
6.2, 6.3, 5.9, 5.9, 5.7, 6.2, 6.0, 6.1, 6.1, 6.3, 5.9, 5.8, 5.8
*The colossal scale of the earthquake which devastated much of southern
Asia was more powerful than all the world's earthquakes of the past five
years put together. The earthquake had three distinct phases, each
only a matter of seconds apart.
*The magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia moved the island
of Sumatra about 100 feet to the southwest, the Los Angeles
Times reported Monday. The earthquake occurred off Sumatra's
northwestern tip in an active geological region and ruptured an
estimated 600-mile-long stretch of the Earth beneath the Indian
Ocean. It created the first deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean since 1883.
*Asia's killer tsunami echoes the 1883 Krakatoa wave - probably
the most destructive tsunami in recorded history, it originated in what
was then the Dutch East Indies, when the island volcano
of Krakatoa erupted.
*A senior geologist warns that the island nation of Sri Lanka is
no longer safe from earthquakes as a new plate boundary phenomenon
is being formed south of the country. Sri Lanka is located inside
the Indo-Australian plate but "it is breaking up right near the south
of Sri Lanka". Because of the Indonesian earthquake's mechanism
and the orientation of the islands, which form certain channels in the water,
Sri Lanka was in the direct path of the generated waves.
*A 5.8 tremor rocked some parts of Southern Mindanao in the
Philippines early Monday morning, which authorities said was
an aftershock of the Indonesian quake.
*The fate of thousands of foreign tourists vacationing in Southeast Asia
remains unclear, a day after the massive tsunamis.
*Yemen and the neighboring Gulf state of Oman were on alert Monday,
warning people not to venture out to sea after high waves caused by
the massive earthquake in Asia caused damage along the coastline.
The massive tidal wave that struck nine Indian Ocean countries
has killed at least 23,700 and hopes have faded for many thousands
more still missing. Somalian officials said Monday that hundreds
of people had died there and entire villages and towns had
disappeared in flooding.
*More than one million people have been displaced in three of the
south Asian countries hit by towering waves following the undersea
earthquake, the International Red Cross says.
*A Canadian swept out to sea in the Asian tidal wave disaster
survived for 10 hours by clinging to a dead fisherman
who had a lifejacket.
*"This may be the worst national disaster in recent history because
it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas...so many
vulnerable communities". "Many people will have (had) their livelihoods,
their whole future destroyed in a few seconds." "The longer term
effects may be as devastating as the tidal wave or the tsunami itself"
because of the risks of epidemics from polluted drinking water.
*The tsunamis which devastated coastlines across south and
southeast Asia with waves of up to 10 metres reached as far
as New Zealand, but with tidal surges measuring just centimetres.
* Unusual tidal surges and strong currents hitting the coastline of
Western Australia, caused by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami,
are set to continue for at least 24 hours, forecasters have warned.
*An alert centre in Hawaii that warns Pacific countries about
approaching tsunamis detected the earthquake that generated
killer waves across Asia, but had no way of raising the alarm.

Monday, December 27, 2004
*Geologists describe Sunday's powerful earthquake in the Indian
Ocean as a once-in-a-generation event. Sunday's quake occurred
along the so-called Andaman Thrust, a faultline that runs between
several plates in the eastern Indian Ocean. The Australia and Indonesia
plates are colliding with the Burma plate. With this size of an earthquake,
it caused a rupture of about a thousand kilometers along the Andaman
thrust. A series of more than 20 large aftershocks have been recorded,
including one registering 7.3 on the Richter scale that jolted parts of
Bangladesh. Minor aftershocks have been detected as far away as the
U.S. states of Alaska and California.
*The earthquake that devastated south Asia may have been partially
triggered by the earlier and smaller 8.1 tremor near Tasmania. A
seismologist said the Indo-Australian tectonic plate had shifted,
triggering first the smaller earthquake off the Tasmanian coast on
Thursday and then yesterday's catastrophic one.
* "All the planet is vibrating" from the quake, said Enzo Boschi, the head
of Italy's National Geophysics Institute. Boschi said the quake even
disturbed the Earth's rotation.
*Australia will consider a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean,
but such a program needs more research to establish its feasibility.
An Indian Ocean tsunami alert system could have given Phuket
15 minutes notice of danger and countries such
as Sri Lanka much more time.

Sunday, December 26, 2004
* Tsunami timeline as it swept across Asia.
*More than 11,500 people have been killed across southern
Asia in massive sea surges triggered by the strongest
earthquake in the world for 40 years. The 9.0 magnitude
quake struck under the sea near Aceh in north Indonesia,
generating a wall of water that sped across
thousands of kilometres of sea. Casualty figures are rising
over a wide area, including resorts in Sri Lanka and
Thailand packed with holidaymakers. Waves forced out from
the earthquake are even reported to have reached Somalia
and Kenya, 3700 miles away on the east coast of Africa.
It was the fifth strongest tremor in the world since
1900 and had a particularly widespread effect because
it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean.
British tourists are stranded in south and east Asia after the
massive waves flooded across the region.
BBC's correspondents reports from the affected areas.
At least three Americans were killed after the huge earthquake
unleashed tidal waves, two in Sri Lanka and one in Thailand, with
several others injured.
Sri Lankan rescue workers have found the bodies of 22 people
thought to be Japanese tourists killed by the worst
tsunami in living memory.
Australians holidaying in the Thai resort of Phuket described the
devastation unleashed by the massive waves. Eight or nine Australians
are being treated following the catastrophic tsunami that hit the resort.
At least 6 more are missing. 4000 Aussies were reportedly in affected areas.
The United Nations is sending special teams to Asia to help after
the tsunami disaster, which the head of UNICEF said
had wielded "staggering" power.
At least one British tourist and 31 other people were killed when
giant waves hit the tourist paradise of the Maldives.
Tourists saw children swept away to certain death by killer waves
which turned a peaceful Christmas vacation into scenes of horror,
according to accounts given to European media from different parts
of southern Asia. "There are lots of people missing, lots
of people injured, lots of chaos." The Netherlands was seeking
news of seven Dutch citizens missing in Thailand and three in Sri Lanka.