Earthquakes

[Shammu]

Magnitude 6.7 quake strikes Solomon Islands
Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:07AM EDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.7 quake struck the Solomon Islands to the northeast of Australia on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

The USGS, monitored in Singapore, said the quake's epicenter was about 2 km (about one mile) under the sea and occurred 75 km (45 miles) west-south-west of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.

There were no immediate reports of damage and the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement on its Web site that a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected.

Magnitude 6.7 quake strikes Solomon Islands

[Shammu]

Well here is the list of earthquakes for Aug 16 and 17

Aug 17
5.0    2007/08/17 16:45:21   -32.600   -178.709    35.0   SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.9    2007/08/17 13:18:12   -13.512   -76.467   31.9   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0    2007/08/17 07:00:07   -9.676   159.461   15.8   SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.5    2007/08/17 06:18:05   -14.155   -75.979   19.8   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
6.2    2007/08/17 03:04:03   -5.272   129.513   10.0   BANDA SEA
5.1    2007/08/17 02:54:21   -14.162   -75.903   47.7   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.7    2007/08/17 02:16:33   -5.334   129.475   35.0   BANDA SEA
5.3    2007/08/17 02:11:17   14.082   146.530   46.4   ROTA REGION, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
5.2    2007/08/17 00:51:19   -14.393   -75.919   15.6   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.1    2007/08/17 00:31:43   -14.356   -76.151   22.3   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
~~~~~~~~

Aug 16
5.0    2007/08/16 18:26:14    -6.707    104.326    17.9   SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
5.4    2007/08/16 15:11:23   -13.453   -76.691   36.7   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2    2007/08/16 14:18:25   -3.473   -12.153   10.0   NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND
6.0    2007/08/16 11:35:30   -14.395   -76.154   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.3    2007/08/16 09:43:53   -14.009   -75.984   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
6.7    2007/08/16 08:39:27   -9.715   159.335   1.8   SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.0    2007/08/16 06:10:46   -14.095   -76.735   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
6.3    2007/08/16 05:16:58   -14.250   -76.061   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2    2007/08/16 04:23:19   -13.518   -75.725   28.7   CENTRAL PERU
5.0    2007/08/16 04:16:48   -13.338   -76.874   14.7   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.6    2007/08/16 04:04:10   -13.585   -76.533   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8    2007/08/16 04:03:05   50.335   -177.577   22.3   ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
5.0    2007/08/16 02:54:20   -13.486   -76.516   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0    2007/08/16 02:17:10   -13.615   -75.922   37.4   CENTRAL PERU
5.4    2007/08/16 01:35:40   -14.086   -76.546   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2    2007/08/16 01:06:18   -13.529   -76.783   36.7   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8    2007/08/16 01:02:23   -13.307   -76.486   30.5   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8    2007/08/16 00:19:14   -14.218   -76.081   35.0   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.6    2007/08/16 00:02:40   -13.235   -76.400   26.6   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
~~~~~~~

As you can see, there is a whole lot more then average for the past 2 days.  And today isn't over with yet.

[Shammu]

 Strong quake hits southern Philippines

Mon Aug 20, 12:13 PM ET

MANILA, Philippines - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake rattled an undersea area off the southern Philippines on Monday, scientists said. No injuries or damage were immediately reported, and no tsunami warning was issued.

Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology said the quake hit at around 9:36 p.m. and was centered 130 miles southeast of Mati township in Davao Oriental province, in the Philippine Trench at a depth of six miles.

It was felt in several provinces, but the intensity of the shaking was described as not strong, Solidum said. No tsunami warning was issued. Several aftershocks were reported.

Minda Morante, who heads the government's Office of Civil Defense in southern Davao city, said she felt the quake on her second-floor office.

"It was just a faint nudge. I'm not expecting any damage," she said.

The Philippine archipelago lies along the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activities are common.

Strong quake hits southern Philippines

[Shammu]

Strong 6.6 Earthquake Rocks Taiwan

Thursday , September 06, 2007

AP
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TAIPEI, Taiwan —
A strong earthquake jolted the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, early Friday, shaking buildings and waking residents.

The Central Weather Bureau said the 6.6 magnitude temblor struck at sea, 44 miles southeast of the eastern city of Ilan at 1:51 a.m. local time.

Ilan is about 50 miles east of Taipei.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or casualties, but the quake was felt for at least 30 seconds.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people, and in December 2006 a 6.7-magnitude offshore tremor south of the city of Kaohsiung severed two undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service to millions of users throughout Asia.

Strong 6.6 Earthquake Rocks Taiwan

[Soldier4Christ]

Quake triggers tsunami in Indonesia 
Warnings issued for much of Indian Ocean region

A massive earthquake struck Indonesia on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami in the town of Padang and warnings for much of the Indian Ocean region, authorities said. The quake caused tall buildings to sway in a least four countries.

A wave of up to nine feet was reported to have hit Padang about 20 minutes after the quake, said Suhardjono, an official with Indonesia's meteorological agency, who goes by only one name.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also reported that a small tsunami hit Padang.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)—A powerful earthquake hit Indonesia on Wednesday, causing buildings to sway in at least four countries, and authorities issued a tsunami warning for much of the Indian Ocean region.

The undersea quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 and hit at about 6:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. EDT), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was centered 65 miles southwest of Bengkulu, on Sumatra island, at a depth of 9.7 miles, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for wide areas of the region.

"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean Basin," it said, warning that waves could hit Indonesia and Australia within an hour, and Sri Lanka and India within three hours.

Residents in Bengkulu—where at least one building was demolished—said the quake triggered panic and that people ran inland.

"Everyone is running out of their houses in every direction," according to Wati Said, who spoke by cell phone standing outside her house. "We think our neighborhood is high enough. God willing, if the water comes, it will not touch us here."

"Communication is cut, we can't call out," she added. "I don't know how you contacted us. Everyone is afraid."

The temblor could also be felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, 375 miles away, where office workers streamed down the stairwells of tall, swaying buildings.

Some people in high-rises in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand also felt the quake.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including 160,000 people in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.

[Shammu]

Second major earthquake, 7.8, hits Indonesia
Temblor strikes hours after 8.4-magnitude quake; tsunami warning lifted

Updated: 56 minutes ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The second powerful earthquake in as many days shook western Indonesia Thursday, collapsing buildings in a coastal city and triggering tsunami alerts around the region.

The latest quake was also felt in Malaysia and in Singapore where tall buildings swayed.

Rafael Abreu, a geologist with The U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado, said the magnitude-7.8 quake did not appear to be an aftershock to Wednesday's 8.4-magnitude temblor.
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"We are not calling it an aftershock at this point. It's fairly large itself. It seems to be a different earthquake," Abreu said.

He said a tsunami watch was in effect for Australia and Indonesia. Indonesia later lifted its alert with no tsunamis detected.

The USGS said the new quake was centered about 125 miles from Bengkulu, a city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which was ravaged by the 2004 tsunami. It occurred at a shallow depth of about six miles.

On Wednesday, a strong earthquake shook Southeast Asia, collapsing buildings, killing at least five people and injuring dozens in Indonesia. That tremor triggered small waves off the coastal city of Padang in Sumatra, the island ravaged by the 2004 tsunami disaster.

Thursday's quake caused extensive damage in Padang, a local official said.

"Many buildings collapsed after this morning's quake," Fauzi Bahar, the governor, told El Shinta radio. "We're still trying to find out about victims.

Quake sparks tsunami fears
After Wednesday's quake, frightened people fled their homes and ran inland, fearing a repeat of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that struck a dozen nations around the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 230,000 people.

"Everyone is running out of their houses in every direction," Wati Said reported by cell phone from Bengkulu, a town 80 miles from the quake's epicenter. "We think our neighborhood is high enough. God willing, if the water comes, it will not touch us here. ... Everyone is afraid."

One witness, Budi Darmawan, said a three-story building near his office fell.

"I saw it with my own eyes," he told El Shinta radio.

The quake was felt in at least four countries, with tall buildings swaying in cities up to 1,200 miles away. The tremor was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, further rattling residents.

Telephone lines and electricity were disrupted across a large swath of Indonesia, making it difficult to get information about damage and casualties.

Suhardjono, a senior official with the local meteorological agency who like most Indonesians uses only one name, said a small tsunami, perhaps 3-feet high, struck the city of Padang about 20 minutes after the quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also reported a small wave.

Most damage appeared to come from the ground-shaking of the tremor.

Few deaths, many injuries
Two people died when a car dealership collapsed in Padang and another was killed by a fire that broke out on the fourth floor of a damaged department store, a witness, Alfin, said by phone. Excavation machinery was being used to search the rubble for survivors, he said.

The Health Ministry said two people died in Bengkulu. The Social Affairs Department said seven had been killed in and around the town. The differing tallies could not be reconciled immediately.

At least 194 people were injured in Bengkulu, reported Amin Kurnia, a doctor who said most were being treated in a compound outside the hospital because its walls were cracked.

The undersea temblor hit around 6:10 p.m. at a depth of 18 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, hundreds of miles from the epicenter, office workers streamed down stairwells as tall office buildings swayed. High-rises also were affected in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Tsunami alerts issued
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for wide areas of the region, saying "earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean Basin."

Sensitive to the 2004 tsunami disaster, governments issued alerts as far away as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, telling people to leave beaches. People in Mombasa, Kenya, crowded into buses after hearing the warning over the radio.

Indonesia issued a tsunami alert following the initial quake and then a second when a magnitude-6.6 aftershock hit, but lifted them after a few hours, saying there was no longer a potential for destructive waves.
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Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center sent cell phone text messages alerting hundreds of officials in six southern provinces, and after the danger past broadcast a statement on television to reassure the public.

In India, officials said the tremor wasn't felt in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, some of which are just 150 miles north of the quake's epicenter. But an alert was issued and authorities were told to take precautions, said Dharam Pal, the regional relief commissioner.

Sri Lankans were told to move at least 660 feet inland.

Nation prone to seismic upheaval
In Australia, the tsunami warning was lifted after only small rises in the sea level were measured at Cocos Island and the Christmas Islands. But officials warned residents to stay away from the ocean, saying dangerous waves and currents could affect beaches, harbors and river mouths for several hours.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The magnitude-9 earthquake that hit on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami off the coast of Sumatra that killed an estimated 230,000 people in a dozen nations, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Second large earthquake prompts another tsunami warning

[Shammu]

Earthquakes worldwide in recent years - TIMELINE
Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:54AM EDT

(Reuters) - A powerful quake measuring 7.9 struck near Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday triggering tsunami warnings in Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka, officials said.

Here is a chronology of some earthquakes in recent years:

Dec 12, 1992 - INDONESIA - A magnitude 6.8 quake killed at least 2,200 people on a string of islands in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.

Sept 30, 1993 - INDIA - A series of quakes killed almost 10,000 people in western and southern India. The first tremor was of magnitude 6.4.

June 6, 1994 - COLOMBIA - A quake brought down buildings and triggered mudslides, killing about 1,000 people in the Paez River valley in southwestern Colombia.

Jan 17, 1995 - JAPAN - A magnitude 7.2 quake, the country's worst in half a century, rocks Kobe, killing 6,430 people.

May 28, 1995 - RUSSIA - Russia's worst earthquake, magnitude 7.5, kills 1,989 people in the oil-producing Far East.

Feb 28, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 5.5 quake kills about 1,000 people in northwestern Iran.

May 10, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 7.1 quake kills 1,560 people in rural areas of eastern Iran near the Afghan border.

Feb 4, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 4,500 people are killed in Takhar province in a quake of magnitude 6.1.

May 30, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - A magnitude 6.9 quake kills up to 4,000 people in northern Takhar province.

July 17, 1998 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA - An undersea quake of magnitude 7.1 creates three tsunami waves, killing at least 2,100 people.

Aug 17, 1999 - TURKEY - More than 17,800 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 quake.

Sept 21, 1999 - TAIWAN - At least 2,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless by a magnitude 7.6 quake in central Taiwan.

Jan 26, 2001 - INDIA - An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 strikes the western state of Gujarat killing at least 19,700 people and causing damage in neighboring Pakistan. The quake affected 15.9 million people in 7,904 villages.

March 26, 2002 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 1,500 people are killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude five and six strike northern Afghanistan

May 21, 2003 - ALGERIA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Algiers and nearby towns to the east, killing 2,251 and injuring 10,243.

Dec 26, 2003 - IRAN - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran. 30,948 were killed in the quake.

Dec 26, 2004 - ASIA - The number of dead and missing in an Asian earthquake and tsunami is almost 230,000. The wave crashed into Sri Lanka and India, drowning thousands and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives. The quake measured 9.15 in magnitude.

March 28, 2005 - INDONESIA - Nearly 1,000 people are killed after a quake of magnitude 8.7 struck the coast of Sumatra.

Oct 8, 2005 - PAKISTAN - At least 73,000 people are killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad. The quake also rocked Indian Kashmir, killing 1,244 there.

March 31, 2006 - IRAN - An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hits the area of Doroud and Boroujerd in the western Lorestan province, killing at least 70 people.

March 6, 2007 - INDONESIA - A 6.4 magnitude quake and another measuring 6.3 in Sumatra kill more than 70 people.

July 16, 2007 - JAPAN - A 6.8 magnitude quake killed 10 people in northwestern Japan and shut the world's largest nuclear power plant.

Aug 15, 2007 - PERU - An 8.0 magnitude quake killed more than 500 people and destroyed about 34,000 homes on central coast.

Earthquakes worldwide in recent years - TIMELINE

[Soldier4Christ]

Indonesia hit by second powerful quake

PADANG, Indonesia- A second powerful earthquake in as many days jolted Southeast Asia and triggered a regional tsunami warning Thursday, sending panicked residents fleeing by foot, motorcycle and truck.

At least nine people were killed and 49 hurt in the twin tremors, which caused tall buildings to sway in at least three countries. All the deaths and injuries occurred in Indonesia. There was no immediate information on casualties in other affected countries.

On Wednesday, an 8.4-magnitude earthquake spawned a small nondestructive tsunami off the Indonesian city of Padang on Sumatra, the island ravaged by the 2004 killer waves. A tsunami warning was issued across much of Asia and nations as far away as Africa.

Thursday's magnitude-7.8 quake rattled the same area of Sumatra and caused extensive damage.

"At least five large buildings- including mosques, houses and a school- collapsed," said Surya Budhi, who was overseeing emergency response in Padang.

Thousands of frightened people piled in trucks or sought shelter on high ground.

Rafael Abreu, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said Thursday's quake did not appear to be an aftershock to the temblor the day before. But the centers of both were close together.

"It's fairly large itself," he said. "It seems to be a different earthquake."

Indonesia issued a tsunami alert, lifted it and then reissued it. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology had warned that unusual waves could hit Christmas Island early Thursday, but locals said there was no sign of a tsunami about an hour after the predicted time.

"The danger has passed," said Linda Cash, a manager at the Christmas Island Visitors Center, adding that police were telling people to stay away from beaches.

The USGS said the new quake was centered about 125 miles from the Sumatran city of Bengkulu. It occurred at a depth of about 6 miles and struck at 6:49 a.m. Several strong aftershocks followed.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said Thursday's quake had the potential to generate a destructive regional tsunami along coasts within 600 miles of the epicenter. It advised authorities to take immediate action to evacuate coastal areas.

After Wednesday's quake, many people refused to return to their homes, fearing a repeat of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami off Sumatra that struck a dozen nations around the Indian Ocean. That disaster killed an estimated 230,000 people in a dozen nations, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Telephone lines and electricity were disrupted across a large swath of Indonesia, making it difficult to get information about damage and casualties.

Death tolls released by several agencies ranged from five to nine. Rustam Pakaya, the chief of Health Crisis Center, gave the latter figure, which was based on information gathered from local hospitals, clinics and regional health offices. He said at least 49 people were injured.

The first quake was felt in at least four countries, with tall buildings swaying in cities up to 1,200 miles away. It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, further rattling residents.

Suhardjono, a senior official with the local meteorological agency who like most Indonesians uses only one name, said a small tsunami, perhaps 3 feet high, struck Padang about 20 minutes after Wednesday's quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also reported a small wave.

But most of the damage appeared to come from the ground shaking.

At least one person died when a car dealership collapsed in Padang and a fire ravaged the fourth floor of a department store, said Budhi, the emergency response official. Excavation machinery was being used to search the rubble for survivors.

The massive undersea temblor hit around 6:10 p.m. at a depth of 18 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, hundreds of miles from the epicenter, office workers streamed down stairwells as tall office buildings swayed. High rises also were affected in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Sensitive to the 2004 tsunami disaster, governments issued alerts as far away as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, telling people to leave beaches. People in Mombasa, Kenya, crowded into buses after hearing the warning over the radio.

Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center sent cell phone text messages alerting hundreds of officials in six southern provinces, and authorities also were told to prepare in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Sri Lankans were told to move at least 200 yards inland.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

[Shammu]

Tsunami Warnings in Indonesia Following Powerful 6.6 Quake

Friday , September 14, 2007

AP

PADANG, Indonesia —
The ground shook so hard Yulinar had to grab a table to steady herself. Minutes later, she heard a warning crackling over the speakers of the neighborhood mosque — a tsunami could crash into her fishing village on Sumatra island at any minute.

But despite the intensity of the shallow undersea earthquake, no waves lashed the beach and the family shack was undamaged. A quirk of nature sent the full force of the tsunami out to sea, preventing a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster that killed more than 230,000 people — most of them on Sumatra.

"We heard the mayor's voice and then ran up a hill," said Yulinar, a mother of five, of the 8.4-magnitude quake that shook Indonesia on Wednesday. "It was very bad. I was so scared a tsunami was coming."

A series of powerful aftershocks followed, damaging hundreds of homes, mosques and schools, and unleashing a 3-meter-high (10-foot-high) wave. At least 13 people were killed and 50 others injured.

A 6.6-magnitude quake Friday triggered the latest in a string of tsunami warnings that have terrorized residents, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Mike Turnbull, a seismologist at Australia's Central Queensland University, said the region escaped disaster this time around because the wave spawned by the first, most powerful tremor was pushed to sea rather than land.

"It could have quite easily have been the other way," he said, noting that pressure between the shifting Australian-Indian and Asian plates has been building up over hundreds of thousands of years and was ready to explode. "It's a quirk of nature that this is how it happened."

Most of the damage came from the earthquakes and aftershocks — which had magnitudes of up to 7.8 — but even that was "minimal," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after the Air Force conducted an aerial survey.

A nine-member United Nations' assessment team reached the same conclusion after visiting the area, saying a major international relief operation was not required, John Holmes, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement from New York.

That did little to diminish the horror, however, felt by residents in the Sumatran fishing village hit by Wednesday's tsunami, which swept a dozen houses to sea and damaged scores more.

People in Muara Maras watched in horror as the ocean retreated and then raced back to shore.

"I heard people screaming and yelling, 'Tsunami! tsunami!"' said Rukhlan, a 43-year-old fisherman. "I ran to find my children, but they had already gone to the hills."

A 65-year-old woman, Asiah, said she felt weak when the earth started moving beneath her.

"I was having difficulty breathing or walking," she said. "I was afraid. My son grabbed hold of me and carried me out of the house. All I could do was pray."

Some of the worst damage from the quakes — almost all of which were centered less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the shore and about 20 kilometers (12 miles) deep — occurred in the Sumatran city of Padang.

"At least five large buildings — including mosques, houses and a school — collapsed," said Surya Budhi, who was overseeing emergency response in the area, and rescuers were searching for survivors at a badly damaged car dealership.

A fire also broke out on the fourth floor of a shopping mall.

Many people have refused to return to their homes, fearing a repeat of the 2004 tsunami. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths in that disaster were in Aceh province. Hundreds of residents spent Thursday night sleeping in parks or on sidewalks.

Telephone lines and electricity were disrupted across a large swath of Indonesia, making it difficult to get information about casualties.

But Rustam Pakaya, the chief of Health Crisis Center, said at least 13 had died — a figure based on information gathered from hospitals, clinics and regional health offices. Fifty others were injured.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, with a population of 235 million people, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Tsunami Warnings in Indonesia Following Powerful 6.6 Quake

[Shammu]

Looking on the USGS earthquake map, looks like there was another one less then an hour ago. That one was a 5.0 at KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA

[Soldier4Christ]

That is at least 4 in the last three days then. I was reading an article that said they are expecting more there and perhaps even bigger yet. Many of the local people in Indonesia are setting up plastic sheets for tents in graveyards. They chose the graveyards because they are on higher ground than the villages are.

[Shammu]

Here is a 10 degree map, of the area brother.  The map shows more then 5 earthquakes.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/100_-5.php

[Shammu]

The past 3 days, of earthquakes.

09/12/2007      USGS ENS      2007-09-12 11:10 (Mb 7.9) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -4.4

09/12/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 13:02 (Mb 5.7) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -3.0

09/12/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 14:40 (Mb 6.0) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -3.2

09/12/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 11:10 REVISED: (Mw 8.4) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -4.5

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 23:48 (Mw 7.9) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.7

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 23:49 REVISED: (Mw 7.5) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.5

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-12 23:49 REVISED: (Mw 7.8 ) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.5

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 01:26 (Mb 5.8 ) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.0

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 02:30 (Mb 5.9) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -1.6

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 02:51 (Mb 5.5) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.0

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 03:35 (Mb 6.5) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 03:35 REVISED: (Mw 7.1) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 05:23 (Mb 5.5) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -1.7

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 09:48 (Mw 6.2) KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 13:10 (Mb 5.6) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.6

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 15:08 (Mb 5.6) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -4.3

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 16:09 (Mw 6.2) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -3.2

09/13/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-13 16:59 (Mb 5.5) KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA -2.1

09/14/2007     USGS ENS     2007-09-14 01:02 (Mb 5.9) SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA -3.8

There are 5 I missed, cause I deleted them out of my mail.

[Shammu]

 Indonesia's big one 'on its way'

PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) -- An international team of earthquake specialists says Indonesia faces another potential "giant" quake in the near future.

 The scientists, including a team from the California Institute of Technology, says three major quakes in the last week have increased the likelihood of a major disaster.

CNN traveled to the earthquake zone with a scientist who deliberately puts himself in the path of the world's most powerful quakes.

Smack on the equator, Indonesia's Sumatra island holds the deadliest stretch of ocean in the world.

"You'd see a strip 30 meters high, stripped down to bedrock," says John Galetzka, a former U.S. Army ranger who is now adventuring on another frontline as an earthquake geologist. He is investigating the fault line that sparked the 2004 tsunami and, in recent days, three more powerful quakes.

Last Friday, Galetzka shot video footage of the shaking beach, with startled locals scrambling upshore.

His thoughts turned immediately to the tsunami danger, and his command ship offshore. Just moments later he caught the panic near the beach, as he saw families evacuating to the hills about 200 meters behind their village.

The day before, another big quake struck -- larger, but further away. Galetzka recalls the long slow waves and a shivering water bottle. For the American geologist, this is where theory meets reality.

"I just felt like the luckiest man alive to feel two strong events," he says. "You can almost hear the excitement in my voice -- oh my gosh, this is it, this is it ..."

Galetzka is now examining the evidence that his team believes indicates the arrival another giant earthquake, and possible tsunami.

He has established a network of position-markers, linked by satellite, that show a constant creep, northeast, among the islands on Indonesia's Indian Ocean frontier. The first one was placed in August 2002.

The 30 measuring stations along Sumatra's western coast tell an ominous tale. Driven by the plate beneath the Indian Ocean, the entire coastline is flexing, as the earth literally bends. The pressures are already enormous, and at some point probably soon, they will become intolerable.

The implications are terrifying.

"Eventually it has got to release in (the form) of giant earthquake," states Galetzka matter-of-factly.

It could be a rare magnitude-9 quake, and with the plates so tightly sprung, it will happen sooner, he believes, rather than later.

Knowing what he knows, does he worry about the people living along this coast?

"I absolutely do," he replies. "I tell them to be prepared. Whenever I am in Padang I think about my escape routes, almost every moment."

As he criss-crosses around the islands, searching for data, Galetzka says his aim is to save lives. But he, more than anyone, knows the risks -- that one day he'll confront a giant wave, a tsunami powerful enough to swallow islands.
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The geologist's voice quivers as he imagines "the big one."

"If we saw it, we'd just head right into it. I'd shake your hand and say, good luck!"

Indonesia's big one 'on its way'

[Shammu]

An international team of earthquake specialists say that Indonesia faces a potential giant quake in the near future
September 18, 2007

A team of international scientists, including a group from the California Institute of Technology, says that the three major earthquakes in Indonesia recently have increased the likelihood of a major disaster with the potential for a giant quake in the near future.

With Indonesia's Sumatra right on the Equator, this island holds the deadliest stretch of ocean anyplace in the world which was the location by the way that produced the tsunami several years ago that caused the deaths of over 300,000 people. The team of earthquake specialists who traveled to the area say that the potential giant quake could well be a rare magnitude 9 quake and with the plates in the Earth so tightly sprung, the quake will happen sooner, rather than later.

Jimmy DeYoung's  Prophetic Prospective on the News

With the recent earthquake activity and the potential for the giant quake in Indonesia, the world is witnessing what Jesus said would happen in the Last Days according to Bible prophecy.

Across the world this last year, there have been many earthquakes in a number of different locations. Most recently, the three powerful earthquakes in Indonesia motivated a team of earthquake specialists to travel to the nation to try and determine the potential for additional quake activity. The team of scientists have concluded that there is a potential for what they term a "giant quake" to happen in that part of the world and they say it could be sooner rather than later.

On the subject of earthquakes, Jesus said that a major indicator of the nearness of His return to the Earth, the Second Coming, would be earthquake activity in many different places, Matthew 24:7. Jesus also gave the Apostle John the prophetic message of the book of Revelation where He spoke about additional earthquake activity including the worst earthquake that will ever take place on the Earth just before He comes back to the Earth, Revelation 16:18.

The warning from a team of earthquake specialists of a giant quake in Indonesia is indeed evidence that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.