5.9 - West Coast of Sumatra

8:58 PM Internet at Every Where

I felt a small tremors and blogged about this in my personal blog.

Date : 11 Oct. 2005

Time : 11.07 pm

Place : Penang

Did anyone feel tremors? I do. Just a mild one but the water in the aquarium did shake a bit.

True enough, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Ritcher scale struck off the west coast of Sumatra at 11.05pm.

Confirmed by the Meteorological Department.

I wonder if other Penangites/Malaysians feel the tremors?

The Deadly Dec 26 Tsunami That Changed Our Lives Forever

6:51 AM Internet at Every Where

It has already been eight months since the deadly Dec 26 tsunami hit Asia. This terrible tragedy which struck us so suddenly will forever remain in our memories for generations to come.

I live in Penang Island. A quiet, peaceful and beautiful tropical island located in Peninsular Malaysia. An island that is reknowned for it's pristine white sandy beaches and is a very well known and popular tourist destination. On December 26 2004 - pandemonium struck. Giant waves swept into the coastal beaches of Penang and our lives changed forever. We now realise how fragile life really is and how easily it can be taken away from us.

When the tsunami first hit Penang, there was a news blackout for a few hours and many did not know what had really happened. You would be surprised that in some places no one even knew the magnitude of the disaster only until a few days later.

I started this blog six days after the Tsunami hit. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Blogs are powerful tools for disseminating information. I only realised this after having started this blog. There were several satisfying and notable accomplishments that this blog achieved. I received many emails and most of them were from people all over the world that were concerned about their loved ones and friends. There were even a few cases where this blog had successfully reunited long lost friends! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors of tsunamipenang.blogspot.com who had helped me so much in running and maintaining this blog. Especially Cynical-Idealist, DannyFoo and Eric Ho.

A friend of mine who works in a popular hotel in Batu Ferringhi which is the most popular beach destination in Penang for tourists, told me that their room occupancy rate had dropped tremendously after the tsunami tragedy. As we all know,the tourism and hotel industry are always sensitive to such things. However, tourists are slowly returning now which is a good thing.

Yes. The Asian Tsunami was a terrible tragedy but the fact remains that life goes on and that we should never live life in fear. Staying away doesn't help. I truly hope that more tourists would return to Penang, Phuket, Bali and also to the other countries that were hit by the tsunami.

Here are some useful links for more information on Penang Island.
Penang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Penang Community Forum
Tourism Penang : The official website of Penang by the Penang State Tourism

Latest report on last night's quake

12:06 AM Internet at Every Where

322 officially confirmed dead in Indonesia,based on latest official reports from Indonesia. The Indonesian authorities estimate that the death toll may amount to 1000 or 2000. Nias, a small island off the western coast of Sumatera was directly and most badly affected. The quake has been re-rated to 8.7 on the Richter Scale.

Quake puzzles tsunami experts. Many expected this quake to trigger a tsunami devastation similar to that of December 26,however,strangely it did not. Only a small wave was detected by a tide gauge on Cocos Island near Australia, about 2400 kilometres south of the epicentre. Some scientists believe the depth of the quake was the reason no tsunami was generated. The US Geological Survey said Monday's quake struck about 30 kilometres under the seabed. The December 26 quake was closer to the surface. This example goes to show the difficulties in predicting tsunamis.

Situation in Penang Island.
At 2.30am today. About 2.5 hours after the quake, the roar and humming of motorboat engines could be heard along the beach areas. Possibly, patrol boats scampering along the coastal seas of Penang trying to warn the fishermen who were out at sea of a possible tsunami attack. The local authorities have reacted to this new tsunami threat remarkably quick and it shows that they are now prepared. We have learned from the past.

7.00am. The worst to fear was over. The tsunami that everyone feared would strike again never did happen. It was already past 5 hours from the time the quake occurred.

4.00pm. The loud buzz of helicopter rotor blades can be heard throughout the day since dawn. Helicopters can be seen patrolling the skies of Penang Island. The noise that these helicopters produce are a little unnerving, but it's assuring to know that the local authorities are taking all precautions necessary to help prevent another disaster.

8.2 Magnitude Scale Earthquake Shakes Aceh

11:00 AM Internet at Every Where

Aceh, Acehkita Earthquake of an 8.2 Magnitude scale returns to shake Aceh and the North Sumatera. The Aceh people are reported to be in a state of panic and nervous that there will be a repeat of the December 26 tsunami incident.

Until this news comes down, communication to Aceh remains confidential. Acehkita tried contacting the Meteorological and Geophysical Body of Banda Aceh but couldn�t be connected as all communication has been cut. In conjunction, the US Geological Survey Group reports the quake happened at 23:10PM. According to the readings, the quake happened at a distance of 205KM off the Sibolga shores, Northern Sumatera at a depth of 30KM below sea level.

Our contributor in Aceh at Banda Aceh reports, during the earthquake for 5 minutes, it caused an outstanding panic situation. Electric power was out. People were running aimlessly in the darkness of night. Some people were running out of their homes with valuables. �I�m really afraid of another tsunami like the past December,� said one person.

Because of that, some people are busy seeking higher territorial ground like Blang Bintang, in Aceh besar, roughly 35KM from the center of Banda Aceh.

At Peuniti, Banda Aceh, some people are loading valuables from their house onto vehicles to move then to higher territories. At Beurawe, people are running in the direction of the mosque. Prayers chants can be heard from mosques. The panic situation has caused a massive traffic jam on the bridge of Simpang Surabaya.

Bireuen is also in a state of panic. The Polsek and Koramil members are working to calming the public that have brought out valuables from their homes. After hearing the orders, people have shifted their valuables back into their homes. But the public still prefers to anxiously stay outside their houses.

Minutes after the earthquake, our Acehkita contributor at Bireuen just arrived at the Kuta Blang beach to observe the ocean calming.

In the meantime, at Lhokseumawe, people living in the villages (Pusong Baro, Pusong Lama and Ujong Blang) near the beach are running towards Kandang and Panggoi. Our Acehkita contributor at Lhokseumawe reports, TNI are in time to prevent people from fleeing to outside the city. An earthquake also happened at Pidie.

Mukhtar, a Lhokseumawe citizen said that he managed to flee with his family just in time without reason. �What�s important is to be far away from the ocean in anticipating if another tsunami occurs,� he said.

Translated From: AcehKita.com

Indonesians living in coastal areas are evacuating

10:33 AM Internet at Every Where

NTV7,a Malaysian TV news channel reports that the Indonesian authorities have ordered an evacuation of residents living in the coastal areas off Aceh and it's vicinity. Military lorries and soldiers were shown assisting in the mass evacuations.

In Malaysia, the TV news channel also reported that Malaysian government officials and emergency units are on the alert. People living in coastal zones of Penang Island, Kedah and Langkawi are urged to temporarily move to higher grounds in fear of another tsunami attack.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
The latest earthquake recorded on a seismograph. Taken from ChannelNewsAsia

Will this be as bad?

9:56 AM Internet at Every Where

As I am sitting here at 2am in the morning, many things run through my mind.

I felt the tremors at around 12.10 midnight worse than the one that cause the tsunami. My neighbours who evacuated to the open ground also agreed with this. We are staying at Medan Lumba Kuda, a low rise, 5-storey apartment.

I can't help but wonder if our little island in Penang will be spared this time, should there be another tsunami? Are we prepared this time? What are we supposed to do? There are so many questions running through my mind.

Being a mother to school going children, in St. Xavier Institution and St. Xavier Primary School, I am definitely not going to allow them to go to school tomorrow morning. I cannot bear the thoughts of not having them near me. The last time when the tsunami happened, it was during the school holidays. They are home. What if something like this happened when our children and spouses were away. I cannot imagine the agony I will feel.

I had blogged a little about the tremors at my new domain at http://chanlilian.net.

It is sad that even in our little peaceful island, we have to worry about these things now. I pray that we will all be safe and there will be no more tsunami.