Earthquakes

Citation

(2008), "Earthquakes", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 17 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2008.07317bad.003

Earthquakes

Article Type: Disaster database From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 17, Issue 2.

15 July 2006 Indonesia

A moderate earthquake struck in eastern Indonesian waters on Saturday (July 15), but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, meteorological officials and residents said. The epicentre of the 5.8-magnitude quake was beneath the Banda Sea, and around 230 kilometres southwest of Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, the US Geological Survey said on its Web site. Lukman, an official at the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said there were no reports of casualties or damage. Residents in Ambon said they did not even feel the quake.

17 July 2006

An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck off the Indonesian island of Java today, the US-based Pacific Tsunami Centre said, but there were no reports of casualties or damage. Indonesia’s state meteorology and geophysics agency initially rated the quake at 5.5 magnitude, but then changed that to 6.8. Officials in the nearest major town to the epicentre, Ciamis, said more than an hour after the quake hit at 08:19, UTC, that there had been no reports of damage or deaths. In Jakarta, meteorology agency seismologist Fauzi told Reuters: “We have received no damage report. We don’t know how long it lasted but probably it was below one minute.” Some occupants of high-rise Jakarta buildings felt the quake, which had an epicentre more than 30 kilometres under the Indian Ocean off Java’s southern Pangandaran beach. The beach is located around 270 kilometres southeast of Jakarta.

17 July 2006

A strong undersea earthquake off the southern coast of Indonesia’s Java island today triggered a tsunami that swept away buildings at a popular beach resort and killed at least 37 people, according to local news reports. There were no reports of casualties or damage in any other country. But the news caused panic across the region, which is still recovering from a tsunami less than two years ago that left nearly 230,000 people killed or missing, mostly in Indonesia. The official Antara news agency said 37 people had been killed along the southern Java coast today. “An earthquake has happened and then was followed by a tsunami on the southern coast of Ciamis (regency),” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a news conference.

18 July 2006

At least 230 people were killed after a tsunami smashed into fishing villages and resorts on Indonesia’s Java Island, following a strong undersea earthquake, rescue officials said today. No warnings were reported despite regional efforts to establish early warning systems after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000, including 170,000 in Indonesia, but many residents and tourists recognised the signs and fled to higher ground as the sea receded before huge waves came crashing ashore. Officials said 231 people were confirmed dead and nearly 130 people were missing after yesterday’s huge waves crashed into the coast, washing away buildings, wooden cottages and kiosks lining the shoreline facing the Indian Ocean. Today, soldiers were trying to retrieve bodies trapped under rubble. Metro TV reported several bodies were found in trees along Pangandaran beach near the town of Ciamis, 270 km southeast of Jakarta. A regional government official in Ciamis regency, the most hard-hit area, said deaths there totalled 171, while the Indonesian Red Cross said the dead in other areas totaled 60. No other country reported casualties or damage from yesterday’s tsunami. Pangandaran, which bore the brunt of the tsunami, is a popular tourist spot with many small hotels on the beach with a nature reserve nearby. Many people returned to salvage belongings such as boat engines and clothes from the wreckage of their homes after the tsunami destroyed fishing boats and damaged cafes, motels and restaurants up to 500 metres from the coastline.

19 July 2006

A moderate 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Manado, Indonesia, at 11:27, yesterday, the Meteorological Services Department said. The quake occurred at lat 0.1S, long 125.3E, near Molucca Sea, 187 km off Manado and 937 km south-east of Tawau. However, there was no tsunami threat, it said in a statement. Yesterday, tsunami struck Indonesia’s Java island, triggered by a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, killing at least 200 people.

19 July 2006

An aftershock sent hundreds scrambling for high ground today in fear of more giant waves, as rescuers pulled bodies from the debris and aid trickled into Pangandaran, two days after a tsunami. While the death toll rose to 525, a search continued for 273 people still missing. Along the coastline heavy equipment was deployed to help in the search for bodies under the rubble. Five bodies were found on beaches in the Pangandaran area alone early today, Red Cross official Mehmet Selamat said. Officials said four foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian, were known killed in the quake. Government officials said as many as 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages, farms and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier. Aid trucks started to arrive for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, had fled to hills above the coast. Many found refuge under plastic-sheeting shelters they made themselves while thousands stayed inside mosques at Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port.

19 July 2006

Tall buildings swayed as an earthquake struck the Indonesian capital and nearby parts of Java Island today, sowing fear two days after an undersea quake triggered a tsunami on the southern coast, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but people in several areas fled from office buildings and homes. The quake’s strength was 6.2 at its epicentre in the Indian Ocean off the southwestern tip of Java, Fauzi, an official at the national earthquake centre, told Reuters. A quake of 7.7 magnitude on Monday (July 17) off the southern Java coast triggered a tsunami that killed at least 550 people. Asked on Indonesian news radio Elshinta whether the quake on Wednesday could cause a tsunami, Fauzi said: “If there is a tsunami it won’t be big.”