Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake Jolts Sabang

SABANG, Aceh, Jan 5 (Antara) - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the Indonesian westernmost city of Sabang in Aceh province early Friday morning but it was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami. Sabang Cot Ba U Maimun Saleh Meteorological Office spokesman Siswanto remarked here that the epicenter of the earthquake which occurred at 2.57 am West Indonesia Standard Time (WIB) was located at6.58 degrees Northern Latitude and 95.44 degrees Eastern Longitude in Malacca Strait at a depth of 190 kilometers. Siswanto added that the epicenter was some 78 kilometers north of Sabang City, but the magnitude was felt by the people in Sigli, Banda Aceh, and Seulimum. But so far there was no immediate report about an aftershock, or material damage and casualty. On December 26, 2004, Aceh part of Aceh province was obliterated by an Indian Ocean earthquake with the epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra island. The undersea megathrust earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000¿280,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. It was the third-largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. The plight of the affected people and countries prompted a worldwide humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than US$14 billion in humanitarian aid. The event was known by the scientific community as the Sumatra¿Andaman earthquake.