Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake Shook Western Indonesia

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Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake Shook Western Indonesia

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The island where the epicenter was is extremely small. I uploaded a couple diferent photos of the map to show the size. I am sure this will be a developing story. They are keeping an eye out for tsunamis at this stage.

  Here is the Map - Opens in new window

 UPDATE - 2-20-08 - 10am Pacific

Jakarta, Feb 20 (Xinhua) At least three people were killed and 25
seriously injured in Siemelu island of Indonesia's Aceh province after
a powerful earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale rocked the
province Wednesday, the health ministry said.



'Three people were killed and 25 others suffered from serious
injuries,' Rustam Pakaya, head of the ministry's crisis centre, said.
The victims were injured in the collapse of buildings, he added.



The toll was expected to rise, as many buildings collapsed and the
rescue operation is still going on, said Pakaya. 'Telecommunication cut
has hampered the coordination in the rescue effort,' he added.



Hundred of buildings collapsed in the powerful earthquake, which struck
at 15:08 Jakarta time (0808 GMT) with epicentre 42 km northwest
Sinabang town in Siemelu Island and 30 km beneath the earth.



Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics Agency put the magnitude of
the quake at 6.6, while the Hong Kong Observatory said the quake was
measured at 7.6 on the Richter scale.



Meiky Pondianto, a military officer in charge at the Aceh provincial
military command, confirmed the damage. He said by telephone, 'The
district office, health clinic, tax office buildings and residence
houses damaged.'



The powerful quake triggered tsunami alerts by Thailand's National
Disaster Warning Centre for the resort island of Phuket and five nearby
provinces and by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre for
Indonesia. Both centres later lifted the tsunami alerts.



Pakaya, said hundred of people in Siemelu island, the closest area to
the epicentre, fled homes and ran away to higher areas due to the issue
of tsunami alert.



While in the second hardest hit of Meulaboh town and other areas there
were no damage, the National Disaster Management Agency said.



The intensity of the quake was felt at 6 MMI (modified mercalli
intensity) at Meulaboh town, 3 to 4 MMI in Banda Aceh, 3 MMI in Medan,
the capital of North Sumatra and Sibolga town of the province, an
official of the agency, Agung Mulyo Utomo said.



The intensity in Siemelu Island could not be known as the public communication is cut off.



The tremor was also felt in the North Sumatra Capital of Medan, which is located about 290 km from the epicentre.



TV footage showed people stormed out in panic from multi-story buildings in the country's third largest city.



The quake also shook Nias Island and the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh on
the northern tip of Sumatra Island, where over 130,000 people were
killed in the 2004 earthquake-triggered tsunami.



'Today's earthquake was not tsunami potential as it was centered inland,' a staff with the agency told Xinhua.

2/20/2008 - Indonesian Time