The 8.6 magnitude earthquake off Aceh, Indonesia, today is the biggest since the 9 magnitude Tohoku quake in northern Honshu, Japan, on March 11, 2011. That is what I found on checking the United States Geological Survey’s Significant Earthquake and News Headlines Archive. The 8.6 magnitude earthquake was followed by an 8.2 magnitude quake, also off the west coast of northern Sumatra. There were two major earthquakes in the same region today. The 8.6 struck at 8:38:37 UTC and the 8.2 at 10:43:09 UTC, just two hours later. That’s devastating. Here’s what I read on Twitter about tremors being felt in places as far apart as Kolkata, in India, and Singapore.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 By
Indonesia earthquake tremors felt in Kolkata, Singapore
A tsunami watch was issued for countries across the Indian Ocean on Wednesday after a large earthquake hit waters off Indonesia, sending residents pouring from their homes in panic.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8.7-magnitude quake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 269 miles (434 kilometers) from Aceh’s provincial capital.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore.
A tsunami watch means there is the potential for a tsunami, not that one is imminent.
The tremor was felt in Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia’s west coast shook for at least a minute. (From Huffington Post)
8.9 Quake in Sumatra. Indonesia issues tsunami warning after quake. Alert in 28 countries. Tremor felt in kolkata, b’lore, chennai and patna
— Suniti Damani (@SunitiDamani) April 11, 2012
#Kolkata metro stopped at 2.42 pm as precaution,passengers evacuated reports NDTV’s Monideepa Banerjee. #earthquake — suparna singh (@soupiesingh) April 11, 2012
Earth Quake in my #city kolkata and arround #INDIA #digha beach #Saltlake City and #kolkat‘s largest IT
— Titash Ghosh (@imtitash) April 11, 2012
#Tremors from Indonesia #quake felt in Singapore, Thailand and southern India – Reuters witnesses — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 11, 2012
Singaporeans across the island report feeling tremors from 8.7-magnitude Aceh quake bit.ly/HzRscU
— The Straits Times(@STcom) April 11, 2012
Tsunami watch issued. Waves from possible tsunami are forecast to reach Singapore 7.51 AM tomorrow (local time) tdy.sg/HGyRtz
— TODAY (@TODAYonline) April 11, 2012
8.9 magnitude quake rocks Indonesia, tsunami warning issued …. My chair was rocking in Kolkata !!!
— Parth Sanyal (@pathsanyal) April 11, 2012
Tremor in Kolkata, buildings develop cracks bit.ly/IjOB6Q
— Kolkata Rockz (@KolkataBhalo) April 11, 2012
Emergency evacuation in office due to earthquake. Only mild tremor in Kolkata.
— Dipankar Saha (@buddydip) April 11, 2012
Office evacuated for ten minutes #earthquake #tremors in #kolkata
— Amrita (@immortalbee) April 11, 2012
We are okay sohini. Thanks. Was evacuated from metro right now. Hows it in mumbai. RT @Mittermaniac: #Kolkata, are you fine?
— Sreemoy Talukdar (@sreemoytalukdar) April 11, 2012
Kolkata Metro services resume after being suspended for 45 mins.The tsunami warning has been scaled down for… fb.me/1OsJGZyTy
— Anindya Bhaumik (@SEO_Expert_Andy) April 11, 2012
Several hotline callers have reported feeling tremors in various parts of Singapore, including Bukit Panjang, Bendemeer Road, Farrer…
— Channel NewsAsia (@cnalatest) April 11, 2012
A friend’s wife here in Singapore called that she just felt another tremor (about 5 minutes ago), and it’s bigger than the earlier one.
— Indra Pramana (@IndraPr) April 11, 2012
People living in the eastern side of singapore already felt a little bit of tremor. Wow, that’s pretty scary.
— Marcus Chan (@MCsucram) April 11, 2012
Gosh, that was a strong tremor in Singapore. The building shook for at least 15 seconds #in
— Arun Chandrasekaran (@AnalystArun) April 11, 2012
Tremor (due to earthquake somewhere) in Singapore O.O Was swaying like crazy. All’s well now! Phew.
— Meradine Wan way~! (@ChariceSing) April 11, 2012
