Second Major Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Sumatra: 7.0 Magnitude

by Amy Judd | September 30, 2009 at 07:17 pm
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A second earthquake has struck Indonesia's Sumatra with a 7.0 Magnitude on thursday morning; no word yet on damages or casualities.

It hit at 8:52am and its epicenter was about 6 to 15 miles deep making it a shallow earthquake, which means it could cause more damage. It struck about 96 miles from Bengkulu on Indonesia's Sumatra, with an aftershock at 9:20am with a magnitude of 5.5.

This comes after an 8.3 earthquake already hit the region.

The latest quake follows a series of powerful earthquakes in the region, which is also known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire." On Tuesday, a massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Samoa islands in the Pacific Ocean, creating deadly tidal waves that likely killed hundreds of people.

On Wednesday, a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck 30 miles from Indonesia's Padang on Sumatra, possibly killing thousands of people.


The United States Geological Survey said that Thursday's earthquake was not an aftershock to Wednesday's earthquake as they are located too far from each other. A tsunami warning has not been issued.

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Mritunjay

Indonesia quake toll could hit "thousands"-official

Rustam Pakaya, the head of the health ministry's disaster centre, made the forecast to Reuters at Jakarta's Halim airport.

http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSSP546897

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Mritunjay
JUMANAK, Indonesia — Search teams lost hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble left by a massive earthquake, as torrential rains on Sunday held up aid delivery in the remote hills of western Indonesia where several villages were wiped out.Rescue teams instead focused on retrieving the rotting bodies from the rubble of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Sumatra island, setting up tents for the tens of thousands of homeless and providing them food and drinking water.Vice President Jusuf Kalla said there was little hope of finding anyone alive."We can be sure that they are dead. So now we are waiting for burials," he told reporters.There is no clear word on the death toll. The United Nations put the figure at 1,100. The government earlier said 715 were dead and 3,000 were missing. But it revised the figure Sunday to 603 confirmed killed and 960 missing, presumably dead.

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The local water supply was severely damaged by the earthquake, and the cost of water has doubled from 4,500 rupiahs ($0.45) per gallon before the earthquake, to 8,000 rupiahs ($0.82), Oxfam's Indonesia Emergency Response Manager David MacDonald said in a statement.

It is shameful that people are trying to take advantage of the people in distress.

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Mritunjay
First Flagged at 7:24 PM, Sep 30, 2009 by Mritunjay

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