28 March 2005

Update on the 8.7 Magnitude Earthquake near Sumatra, Indonesia

An earthquake measuring at Magnitude 8.7 struck off the western coast of Sumatra at 1610 UTC on March 28, 2005. Many aftershocks followed, including a Magnitude 6.7 earthquake that occured at 1830 UTC. In excess of 1,000 fatalities have been estimated as a result of this event.

The massive earthquake has claimed an estimated 1,000 lives or greater in Indonesia. Nias island, located directly south of the epicenter, was hit especially hard. Although a small tsunami was detected at the Cocos Islands, Australia, tidal gauge, a major tsunami event did not occur in the region.

 
  Date Latest Updates
Ongoing   Disaster Updates from ReliefWeb and AlertNet.
Ongoing   Tsunami Bulletins from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Ongoing   Indian Ocean Earthquake Alerts from Pacific Disaster Center’s Ioquake e-mail alert notification.
Ongoing   Worldwide Earthquake Updates from the National Earthquake Information Center and HEWS.
Ongoing   Tsunami Information, Maps, and the Natural Hazards Atlas from the Pacific Disaster Center.

Location of the Magnitude 8.7 earthquake that struck off of the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia at 1610 UTC on March 28 (red circle labeled “8.7”). Additional aftershocks in the region are also displayed, as well as the location of the December 26, 2004 earthquake (red star). (Source: PDC's South East Asia and Indian Ocean Tsunami Response Map Viewer.)