Tectonic Earthquakes Threaten Sumatra

December 19, 2006
Tempo Interactive

TEMPO Interactive, Padang: A series of earthquakes that shook West and North Sumatra all day long yesterday will probably be followed by tectonic earthquakes.

“Sumatra is crossed by a big fault, right under the Barisan Mountains which are to earthquakes,” Ade Edwar, Coordinator of Indonesian Geologists in West Sumatra, told Tempo yesterday (18/12).

Ade warned the local government and residents to be alert for the possibility of tectonic earthquakes.

According to him, areas where there have been landslides in Solok, Padang, Padangpanjang, Bukittinggi, and Bandar Lampung through to Banda Aceh regencies are part of the Sumatra fault line.

The earthquakes that occurred yesterday resulted in the deaths of at least four people and many others were injured due to being hit by the ruins of houses as they collapsed.

The dead victims were Yahya, 72; Imran, 42; Insani; 18 and Andi, 5.

The first earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale and occurred at 4.39am WIB (Western Indonesia Time) in Panyabungan, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra.

It was followed by another earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale in Pasaman Timur Regency, West Sumatra, which borders on Mandailing Natal.

Around midday, yet another earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook Panyabungan.

The epicenter was 0.82 degree north latitude and 99.88 degree east latitude, around 88 kilometers from Lubuk Sikaping City, Pasaman Timur and 39 kilometers from Panyabungan.

In addition to ruining houses of worship and school buildings, the earthquakes triggered mountainslides.

The road crossing Muara Sipongi, which connects West Sumatra and North Sumatra, was blocked.

“There were cracks in the earth land. Access to disaster locations is very difficult,” said Khairul Lubis, a Mandailing Natal resident.

An evacuation team from the North Sumatra Regional Public Works Service also experienced difficulty in reaching areas isolated by landslides.

According to Azwar Indra Nasution, Regional Secretary of Mandailing Natal, the evacuation team concentrates on giving food and emergency shelters to quake victims.

The cause of the earthquakes, said Agus Safril from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) of North Sumatra, was an energy release into the Sumatra fault.

The energy release was on both the Euro-Asia and Indo-Australia plates.

“The coming together of these two plates on the west coast North Sumatra shook areas all the way to Meulaboh, Aceh,” he said.

Hambali Batubara, Febrianti, Dian Yuliastuti, Ewo Raswa and Choirul Aminuddin

http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2006/12/19/brk,20061219-89751,uk.html