Officials have canceled a tsunami watch inside the Indian Ocean region, hours after an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the northwestern coast of Indonesia.
The quake hit Wednesday about 430 kilometers southwest of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital and biggest city within the province of Aceh, at an estimated depth of twenty-two kilometers. An 8.2-magnitude aftershock was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey about two hours after the initial earthquake.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center originally issued a tsunami look ahead to several countries within the region after the quake. Nonetheless it says local authorities can now assume the threat has passed, since sea level readings indicate the chance has diminished or is over for many areas.
A seismology expert said the earthquake's movement was horizontal in place of vertical, creating less risk of a big displacement of water had to trigger a tsunami.
People on motorcycles rush to better ground after earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia, April 11, 2012(VOA Photo - Budi Nahaba)
In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake in roughly a similar area off Indonesia's Sumatra island triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people, about 1/2 them in Aceh province.
Wednesday's quake was at approximately a similar depth because the 2004 Indian Ocean quake. It reportedly rattled buildings as distant as Singapore, Thailand, and India.
Preacher Salman Iqbal leads post-earthquake prayer in Ulee Kareng, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, April 11, 2012 (VOA Photo - Budi Nahaba)
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the location is "under control" in Aceh and there's no immediate threat from a tsunami. No casualties was reported thus far from the quake, which sent citizens in Aceh scurrying out of buildings and into the crowded streets. Electricity was reportedly briefly cut in some areas of the province.Officials issued coastal evacuation orders through the region. Authorities scrambled to evacuate beaches and warned residents to get to raised ground.
Somchai, the overall manager of the Centara Beach Resort on Karon Beach in Phuket, Thailand, told VOA that while government sirens came late, his resort was prepared.
"We directly called the guests to the room. For they all. And we put the warning alarm in an effort to hear all around the hotel. And now our guests, most of them, [have] arise to the meeting point," Somchai said.
Video footage from Indonesia
Torsak Wnichkhajorn, the previous director of the Thai Meteorological Department, told VOA that the country's tsunami warning system has not detected a wave, but warned it's miles still possible that a tsunami may be generated.
If early projections don't change, the quake can be tied for the ninth largest since 1900. Earlier preliminary readings put the magnitude at 8.9.
The massive quake that devastated coastal northeastern Japan last year was a magnitude 9.0 and killed around 19,000 people.
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