Another Earthquake In Sumatra, Tsunami Warning Out

[Heli Ops]

Just got a text message from friend in Malaysia saying that there are major evacuations happening happening in Sumatra at the moment as an 8.5 Earthquake occured just 250 miles off the coast of the island less than an hour ago.

 

There is also a Tsunami warning out, issued by NOAA in the US to evacuate up to 1000 kms from the epicentre. The danger period is within 3 hrs of the Earthquake so we have two hours to go. Watch CNN for updates.

 

Lets all keep our fingers crossed for Rahmat's crews.

 

Heli Ops

[Frequent Flyer]

Most people still sleeping too. Fingers crossed.

[Rotorhead]

Most people still sleeping too.  Fingers crossed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Just spoke to a buddy in Malaysia, said that his hotel room shook like he was on a boat for three minutes.

 

RH

[downwash]

What's the word there, HeliOps?

[downwash]

Neville, my screen tellls me you're on. Is there any update?

[Heli Ops]

Yes, the info I have received is that most buildings on an island off the coast of Sumatra were flattened. Not sure which island but will try and find out. Rahmats wife in KL felt the earthquake when it happened and I checked the time I got the first message from Rahmat and it was at 1.05am local time in Malaysia.

 

Rahmat took some time to get hold of his crew but he finally managed to do so, and confirmed that the S-61 was ok.

 

Am going to give him a call in an hour or so and will post the info I get.

 

Heli Ops

 

 

Neville, my screen tellls me you're on. Is there any update?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Skidz]

Quake kills at least 300 on Indonesian island

 

Vice president says up to 2,000 could be dead

 

Monday, March 28, 2005 Posted: 10:30 PM EST (0330 GMT)

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/03/2...uake/index.html

 

(CNN) -- A major earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia late Monday, killing hundreds, but fears of another tsunami like those that devastated the region in late December have faded.

 

On Indonesia's Nias Island at least 300 people died and hundreds more were reported injured or trapped, said government spokesman Agus Mendrova.

 

But international news agencies are reporting that between 1,000 and 2,000 people may have been killed on Nias Island.

 

"It is predicted -- and it's still a rough estimate -- that the number of the victims of dead may be between 1,000 and 2,000," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the el-Shinta radio station, according to The Associated Press.

 

Between 500 and 1,000 homes were destroyed, and the island's public market was ablaze, Mendrova said.

 

Between 10,000 and 15,000 people ran to hilltops for safety in case of a tsunami, Mendrova said. Many of the doctors and nurses who normally would staff the hospital fled to higher ground.

 

"We have not heard of any tsunami hitting anywhere," Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, told CNN from New York nearly six hours after the temblor struck.

 

Still, Egeland said, the earthquake itself was responsible for casualties on islands close to the epicenter.

 

Dozens of aid officials met overnight in Sumatra to plan a course of action after daylight breaks in the region, Egeland said.

 

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States is moving into "battle mode" in the wake of the quake, alerting all the U.S. posts in the region and reaching out to aid workers. (Full story)

 

There was a report of heavy damage on Simeulue Island in Indonesia, said Bernd Schell, head of tsunami operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

 

Speaking from southern Aceh, Schell said "heavy, heavy shaking" lasted about three minutes.

 

Based on the size of the earthquake, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initially urged residents within 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of the epicenter to evacuate coastal regions.

 

But no tsunamis were reported along Indonesia's island coasts, while India, Malaysia and Thailand canceled tsunami warnings early Tuesday.

 

The quake's magnitude was variously reported by monitoring agencies as 8.7 and 8.5. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the former after initially putting the magnitude at 8.2; the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported the latter.

 

In the following hours, a series of smaller earthquakes -- one a magnitude 6.7 -- struck the region, the USGS said.

 

The main jolt was located near the coast of northern Sumatra, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west northwest of Sibolga, and about 1,400 kilometers (880 miles) northwest of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was 30 kilometers (20 miles) deep.

 

The quake struck at 11:09 p.m. (04.09 p.m. GMT, 11:09 a.m. ET). It was felt in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and as far north as Bangkok, Thailand.

[transquebecniece]

Ah, geez. Scary stuff that Mother Nature.

[cap]

Best site going for up-to-the-second news is:

 

 

www.bourque.com

 

 

This guy is good and beats the news wires and services to the punch every time bar none.

[Heli Ops]

Just got off the phone to Andrew in Malaysia who works for EC Malaysia. They are looking at sending a Puma from KL over to Medan to work alongside two AS355s from MHS Aviation. One 355 is leaving tomorrow and the second one a day later.

 

They are going to be working for the UN and based out of Medan. From here they will fly supplies out to the island which is a couple of hundred miles south of Meaulaboh and off the coast. The Puma is also planning to be based out of there.

 

Will get more updates posted as I get them.

 

Heli Ops