High-rise apartments in Penang swayed for around a minute late this afternoon when an 8.6 strong quake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra, triggering a tsunami watch.
This was followed by an 8.2 after-shock a couple of hours later. But the watch area has since been reduced and Malaysia is off the list.
In Penang, the main Tanjung Bunga road was choked with traffic, as many hastily left their homes along the sea front.
One Taiping resident said the chair he was seated on at home rattled during the quake.
Does the Najib administration still think it is a great idea to build the 100-storey Menara Warisan in Kuala Lumpur? Are our high-rise buildings capable of withstanding strong quakes?
Incidentally, some time ago, one of the senior engineers from China Harbour Engineering Company told me that the second Penang bridge is being built to withstand quakes of up to 8.0. CHEC has been laying the sub-structure for the new 23km bridge.
000
WEIO21 PHEB 111151
TSUIOX
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 005
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1151Z 11 APR 2012
THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.
… AN INDIAN-OCEAN-WIDE TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT …
… A MAJOR AFTERSHOCK OCCURRED AT 1043Z WITH MAGNITUDE 8.3 …
… THE WATCH AREA IS NOW REDUCED …
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR
INDONESIA / INDIA / SRI LANKA / MALDIVES / UNITED KINGDOM
THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME – 0839Z 11 APR 2012
COORDINATES – 2.3 NORTH 93.1 EAST
LOCATION – OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
MAGNITUDE – 8.7
MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY
GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
TRINCONMALEE LK 8.6N 81.2E 1116Z 0.04M / 0.1FT 18MIN
COCOS ISLAND AU 12.1S 96.9E 1102Z 0.08M / 0.3FT 18MIN
TELUKDALAM ID 0.6N 97.8E 1045Z 0.19M / 0.6FT 10MIN
SABANG ID 5.8N 95.3E 1010Z 0.36M / 1.2FT 06MIN
MEULABOH ID 4.1N 96.1E 1007Z 1.06M / 3.5FT 12MIN
DART 23401 8.9N 88.5E 0956Z 0.03M / 0.1FT 06MIN
LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.
NOTE – DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY
ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL
MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.
EVALUATION
SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY
ALREADY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG SOME COASTS.
BASED ON THESE DATA THE THREAT CONTINUES FOR ALL COASTAL AREAS OF
THE INDIAN OCEAN. FOR THOSE AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES HAVE
OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME
OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN
LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO
BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE
TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE
VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST
BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.
LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
INDONESIA SIMEULUE 2.5N 96.0E 0912Z 11 APR
BANDA_ACEH 5.5N 95.1E 0933Z 11 APR
SIBERUT 1.5S 98.7E 0944Z 11 APR
PADANG 0.9S 100.1E 1025Z 11 APR
BENGKULU 3.9S 102.0E 1037Z 11 APR
CILACAP 7.8S 108.9E 1150Z 11 APR
BANDAR_LAMPUNG 5.7S 105.3E 1200Z 11 APR
BALI 8.7S 115.3E 1234Z 11 APR
BELAWAN 3.8N 98.8E 1326Z 11 APR
KUPANG 10.0S 123.4E 1333Z 11 APR
BALI 8.7S 115.3E 1234Z 11 APR
INDIA GREAT_NICOBAR 7.1N 93.6E 0937Z 11 APR
LITTLE_ANDAMAN 10.7N 92.3E 1015Z 11 APR
NORTH_ANDAMAN 13.3N 92.6E 1045Z 11 APR
PORT_BLAIR 11.9N 92.7E 1050Z 11 APR
CHENNAI 13.4N 80.4E 1134Z 11 APR
TRIVANDRUM 8.3N 76.9E 1204Z 11 APR
KAKINADA 17.2N 82.7E 1204Z 11 APR
MANGALORE 13.3N 74.4E 1339Z 11 APR
BOMBAY 18.8N 72.6E 1605Z 11 APR
GULF_OF_KUTCH 22.7N 68.9E 1636Z 11 APR
SRI LANKA TRINCOMALEE 8.7N 81.3E 1049Z 11 APR
DONDRA_HEAD 5.9N 80.6E 1054Z 11 APR
COLOMBO 6.9N 79.8E 1121Z 11 APR
JAFFNA 9.9N 80.0E 1235Z 11 APR
MALDIVES GAN 0.6S 73.2E 1144Z 11 APR
MALE 4.2N 73.6E 1149Z 11 APR
MINICOV 8.3N 73.0E 1214Z 11 APR
UNITED KINGDOM DIEGO_GARCIA 7.3S 72.4E 1202Z 11 APR
ADDITIONAL BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER FOR THIS EVENT AS MORE INFORMATION
BECOMES AVAILABLE.
THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ISSUE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FOR THIS EVENT. IN THE CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION…THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.
| Please help to support this blog if you can. Read the commenting guidlelines for this blog. |
The real tsunami to hit Malaysia is one that will wipe out BN in many states. This is Tsunami 2.0 (Tsunami 1.0 was the 2008 one).
Very true. The warning is there for BN already.
I wouldn’t want to be living in Straits Quay. Didn’t the 2004 tsunami wipe out all the sand when they were reclaiming the land? Developers don’t care about the future – they just want to get the project done to make their money.
The 2004 tsunami was supposed to be a once in a lifetime event, but here we are a mere 8 years later with a megaquake that could have done the same.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/13/world/asia/indonesia-quake/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
The developer claims that the reclamation was done so that the reclaimed land is 5 metres above sea level.
5 metres above sea level?
That would mean higher than Tanjung Tokong Road!
Is that developer joking?
Anyway, the last tsunami hitting Balik Pulau/Betong area was said to be 15 feet (abt 5 metres) high.
The next one may not be so lame.
how about reclaimed land near the bridge i.e the massive The Light project by IJM ?
5m above sea level ? must be kidding ????
Anil,
I am appalled at how Malaysians thinking they know so much of politics and blasting here there in blogs, yet this earthquake is one they cant see what is Divine sent vs human Tectonic War !
Equake is Tectonic War and if Indonesians cannot accept new oil price with lots demonstration, soon a mega one will hit them. Similiar to Japan.
Its End of Times Extortion.
Wake up Malaysia, these “one group” very ambitious in wanting to controll the world has technology that cannot be found in land of Malaysia Boleh !!
Not very sure whether ‘they’ have earthquake warfare technology, but it seems quite in correlation with chemtrails around the globe.
Weather change using HAARP technology and covert undersea nuclear blast can actually bring about a tsunami-causing earthquake.
Heard of mind control? Be prepared for it comes 666.
Time for Kopi-O kau kau to wash away my Kia Si spirit and build in my mind a shield against mind control effects.
This time the quake can be felt in many places in Malaysia even in Pahang. So still want to go ahead with Lynas.
Is the world coming to an end?
Is the Almighty God giving out signals now?
Why is earth quake happening too often now?
Shall the high officials continue with their eat drink and be merry and their killings? ??
There was violent shaking of buildings and a little damage all the way from Kolkata to Sri Lanka. It is highly unlikely that this was due to just the Acheh quake. There was just a brief mention of another quake in “northern Indian Ocean”.
I think it was good this time around that folks were on the alert and helping to warn one another. It is better to be safe than sorry, even though the fears of a tsunami did not materialise in the end. In that vein, even the exaggerations, which is unfortunately common human nature, which crept into Tweets and Net postings was mainly excusable. But I was aghast that some on-line news reports were peppered with “facts” that had not been fact-checked properly. On report stated “Already, the Penang Bridge has been closed and ferry services will soon be stopped, according… Read more »
Pre Tsunami wake up call for Msians ????
http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/29348/
It is time to wake up before it is too late ?????????????????
i wonder if people still yarn to live near hilly coastal sides condos with potential tsunami & landslides in the waiting ?
will there be discounts to reasonable home price levels after such fear factors driving away the speculators and overseas buyers ????
only time will tell.
I stayed at Tg. Bunga, the 1st quake came, had to depend on USGS
for info to good details was Stirke Slip Equake, this was what i want to know.
Jabatan Kaji Cuaca website was hang hang hang…hopeless!!
The last few days were hot & unbearable. The atmosphere quite dry notwithstanding some sporadic rain.
Earth crusts at attrition can cause tremendous amount of heat in the atmosphere.
The feeling was the same as Dec 2004 before the earthquake.
Could this be the 2nd Big One?
There was a vision of such calamity to hit Penang sometimes back in 2005. Hope this will not come true.
God be merciful.
An aftershock of 8.2 at 2012/04/11 10:43:09 (UTC). The coast is still not cleared yet. So far it is horizontal slip ala Michael Jackson horiz-moon walk. Pray that it will not suddenly do a Saturday Night vertical Teh Tarik ala John Travolta! Tonight will be sleepless even without the Kopi-O kau kau kau. Life is precious, even just for tonight! FYI, animals have great 6th sense & will act abnormally in such times of distress in Nature. Keep an elephant with plastic chains for the biggest trumpeting signal of worst things to come. No cow in condo unless you want… Read more »
tunglang, why so takut mati? If our time is up, it is up, no place to run, no place to hide…
Sometimes, i think the safest place is up there somewhere !!!
Sometimes i also look forward to the beautiful shore at the other end …
Loss of life, property & loved ones in one instance is the most devastating experience to go through.
The recent Japan tsunami is one case in point.
It’s natural human emotion to always fear of approaching disaster due to our in-build survival instinct. Whether we are ready to die or not.
Not many know where they will go after death.
Even those who are sure of ‘moving on’ to the other side of bliss will like to have an intimate moment with loved ones before the last breathe.