Re: 8.9 Eartquake in Indonesia
From Michael Janitch's FB page:Quote:
Dutch and all: From AP and weather.com excerpt about original quake:
"Roger Musson, seismologist at the British geological survey who has studied Sumatra's fault lines, says the temblor was a strike-slip quake, not a thrust quake. In a strike slip quake, the earth moves horizontally rather than vertically and doesn't displace large volumes of water."
From weather.com:Experts said both quakes were geologically different than the one that spawned the 2004 tsunami, occurring horizontally, with the tectonic plates sliding against each other, creating more of a vibration in the water.
The other type of earthquake, a mega thrust, like the one that also hit off Japan last year, causes the seabed to heave and displaces water vertically, sending towering waves racing toward shores.
Roger Musson, seismologist at the British geological survey who has studied Sumatra's fault lines, said initially he'd been "fearing the worst."
"But as soon as I discovered what type of earthquake it was ... I felt a lot better."
The tremors were felt in neighboring Malaysia, where high-rise buildings shook. Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and India also were rattled.
But it was the streets of Aceh where real chaos broke out.
Patients poured out of hospitals, some with drips still attached to their arms. In some places, electricity was briefly cut.
Hours after the temblor, people were still standing outside their homes and offices, afraid to go back inside.
FYI, the approximate antipode for Indonesia is the northwest area of Brazil, bordering on French Guiana