Early Reports of
the March 28, 2004
Earthquake
By Rachel Tardiff
Three months after a devastating earthquake
and tsunami hit
coastal areas of the Indian Ocean, an
aftershock ranking
8.7 on the Richter Scale occurred at 11:09PM
(local time), followed by another 6.0 aftershock 30 minutes later. The epicenter of the earthquake was located
18 miles deep off the coast of Sumatra (near
the island of Nias,
which is ~900 miles from Jakarta, Indonesia). It occurred on a segment of the same fault
line as the December
26, 2004 event; however it was on a southern-facing segment,
which is
believed to have minimized the effects of any potentially devastating
tsunamis
in the nearby coastal areas. The quake
is believed to have caused severe destruction of homes and buildings,
killing
many and trapping others, especially on nearby Nias
Island, Simeulele
Island, and Sumatra. The quake caused mass panic in the coastal
communities that suffered greatly from the devastating tsunami of 3
months
ago. After being shaken out of their
beds, hearing the alert sirens, warnings, and calls for evacuation,
people fled
their houses by the thousands and ran for higher ground in case another
tsunami
were to hit. A monitor in the Cocos
Islands (1,400 miles west of Australia,
and southwest of the epicenter) detected a small tsunami, only creating
an
ocean disturbance of approximately 4 inches. The
Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center
and Japan’s
warning centers detected the quake and immediately alerted the
authorities in
the potentially affected areas, advising the close monitoring and
evacuations
of low-lying coastal areas within a 600-mile radius of the epicenter. Most countries issued tsunami warnings that
were eventually withdrawn once officials had announced that if a
tsunami had
not hit within 6 hours of the earthquake, there was little chance that
one
would occur. The U.S. State Department
alerted all posts in the area: embassies in the region have been aiding
host
governments and aid/relief agencies to collect pertinent and accurate
information,
and are on alert to possibly help in other ways if necessary. The American Red Cross (ARC) continues its
relief efforts in the areas hit by the December disaster.
Pending further developments and more
information, the ARC will respond to this situation as well (additional
funds
are not believed to be necessary, due to the generous amount collected
for the
first earthquake and tsunami). Note this
article was written with the information provided within the first
hours following
the earthquake on March 28,
2005:
it remains to be seen the accuracy of these early reports (from various
news
sources) compared to those in future news releases.