M 8.2, northern Sumatra, Indonesia: "March 28, 2005 16:09:37 GMT"
(Via USGS M>5 Earthquakes.)
There was another big earthquake in Sumatra about an hour ago. This one appears to have occurred at the southern end of the December 26 rupture. I haven't seen any news of tsunamis. Both the Pacific and West Coast Tsunami Warning Centers issued bulletins stating there is not tsunami threat in the Pacific (which would be expected). The Pacific Tsumani bulletin included this statement (which was very similar to the statement including in the December 26 bulletins):
WARNING... THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A WIDELY
DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI IN THE OCEAN OR SEAS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE.
AUTHORITIES IN THOSE REGIONS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY
AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. THIS ACTION SHOULD INCLUDE EVACUATION
OF COASTS WITHIN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS OF THE EPICENTER AND CLOSE
MONITORING TO DETERMINE THE NEED FOR EVACUATION FURTHER AWAY.
Update 2 (9:00 PM PST):
The aftershocks came in. They were focused around a "small" curve of the subduction zone. The rupture zone appears to be about 2 to 3 degrees latitude. Far smaller than the rupture of the December 26 earthquake (does it have a name yet?). Still it was a great earthquake.
Update (11:00 AM PST):
There have been no aftershocks from this quake, suggesting that it wasn't rupturing a new section of the subduction zone. That is probably good news, in that is is not likely causing additional movement of the sea floor. Recent news reports indicate that they had not experienced a tsunami in the first couple of hours after the quake.
9:14:50 AM
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