4 strong quakes hit Indonesia after Wednesday temblor

TAPAN,Indonesia-Four strong earthquakes followed by numerous aftershocks hit Indonesia on Thursday, after a massive temblor with a magnitude of 8.4 jolted Sumatra Island a day earlier.The first two quakes, occurring just hours apart in the southwestern parts of Sumatra, had magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors world quakes.The third, with a magnitude of 6.2, struck near Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines.The fourth, M6.8 quake hit Sumatra on Thursday night, prompting Indonesia's meteorological agency to issue a tsunami warning, Reuters reported.And aftershocks continue.Indonesian authorities issued several tsunami warnings, but almost all were lifted later and there were no immediate reports of damage or injury from Thursday's many quakes.The M7.8 quake that hit at 6:49 a.m. was centered 10 kilometers under the seabed in the area of the Mentawai Islands, about 185 km south- southeast of Padang, capital of West Sumatra Province on Sumatra Island, according to the USGS.The M7.1 quake hit around 10:35 a.m., with the same depth and centered some 165 km south-southwest of Padang. It was followed by numerous aftershocks with magnitudes of more than 5.In the M8.4 earthquake that rocked the region Wednesday, at least 10 people were killed, mostly in the northern part of Bengkulu Province, and more than 65 others injured, according to Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's Crisis Management Center.Pakaya told Kyodo News that several buildings were damaged in Bengkulu and in neighboring Padang, while a local official in Padang said at least one person was trapped under the debris of a collapsed building.In Padang, most shops and offices are closed and people are staying outside, sitting on mats on the city streets.Many of them want to get out of the city, seeking higher ground.Padang's Indarung area was filled with private cars and trucks carrying people who escaped from their houses near coastal areas.Suharti, a 40-year-old farmer, has been staying on the road linking Padang's airport and the city center since Wednesday night, fearing a tsunami."This earthquake is very unusual. I never experienced earthquakes and aftershocks like these after the Aceh tsunami," the mother of four told Kyodo News, referring to the tsunami disaster that hit Aceh Province on the northern tip of Sumatra in 2004."I'm so scared to go back home because I'm afraid that anytime a tsunami may hit our house," she said.Her family members went hungry, but she does not know what to eat "because we came here only with our clothing," she said in front of dozens of fellow farmers living near a riverbank.Safri, another farmer, called the seismic activity "very strange."Across Padang, hotel guests were staying outside and many hotels refused to receive new guests. At the airport and on the streets, passengers were competing to get taxis or rental cars because there were limited taxis and cars operating."I don't want to operate my rental car because I will need it to bring my family members to higher ground when a tsunami comes," driver Ricky told a Kyodo News reporter who wanted to rent the car.Along the West Sumatra coast on the way from Padang to Bengkulu, many villages and towns were deserted as their residents were sheltering on higher ground under newly erected tents.Many houses, mosques and shops were seen damaged by the Wednesday quake.On the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of Sumatra, residents reportedly fled to higher ground and set up tents on the hills.Early Thursday morning, a U.N. assessment team flew to Bengkulu from Aceh with humanitarian supplies, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement."This earthquake is one of the biggest Sumatra has seen since 2005, and raises old fears in a country that had suffered tremendously from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami already," John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said in the statement.Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed his relief during a media briefing that the Wednesday earthquake is not as devastating as first feared."Yesterday, we thought there would be massive destruction, but from the reports I had received this morning, thank to God that the damage is not as grave as we feared," Kalla told reporters."Now, the people's preparedness starts to get better, much better, that when an earthquake comes, they immediately run away from the coast. For that, I thank to the people," he added.Indonesia, with more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes.In December 2004, the powerful earthquake off Aceh and subsequent tsunami killed about 200,000 people in Aceh and tens of thousands of others in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other areas around the perimeter of the Indian Ocean.A M8.7 earthquake jolted Nias Island, off Sumatra to the south of Aceh, in March 2005 killing more than 800 people.In addition, a strong earthquake also rocked Yogyakarta and surrounding Central Java cities on May 27 last year, killing about 5,800 people.
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