Magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes off Indonesia
- 8 years ago
A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Wednesday off the coast of Indonesia, another major tremor in an area known for those - though, thankfully, this one didn't immediately appear to cause widespread death or destruction.
The quake was centered in the Indian Ocean about 410 miles southwest of Muara Siberut and roughly 500 miles west-southwest of Padang, which is on the west coast of Sumatra, the Asian archipelago nation's largest island.
Large earthquakes are relatively common in and around Indonesia, which is part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In December 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck off the west coast of Northern Sumatra and the tsunamis it generated killed upwards of 225,000 people in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia , Somalia , Kenya, Tanzania and Bangladesh.
The quake was centered in the Indian Ocean about 410 miles southwest of Muara Siberut and roughly 500 miles west-southwest of Padang, which is on the west coast of Sumatra, the Asian archipelago nation's largest island.
Large earthquakes are relatively common in and around Indonesia, which is part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In December 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck off the west coast of Northern Sumatra and the tsunamis it generated killed upwards of 225,000 people in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia , Somalia , Kenya, Tanzania and Bangladesh.