Tsunami Warning 12th Sept. 2007

You can even have the warnings sent to your mobile phone as I do, you can
even set parameters of what warnings you get; where in the world, strength
(magnitude or A?a??mgA?A? to be correct), depth of epicentre, a Tsunami warning if
deemed possible and all for free!

Duly I checked the messages, just as I was doing so it arrived, earthquake
in Southern Sumatra, initially measured at 7.9 at a depth of 15km with an
accompanying Tsunami warning, I was concerned.

Manager & staff headed for the higher ground, did not have to worry about
guests they had left earlier in the day, we were empty at the time.

Main reason for my concern was itA?A?s depth 15km is very shallow but compared
with the A?A?Big OneA?A? of December 2004, 9.2mg & 5km this could not have such a
devastating impact. Nether the less a warning is a warning! & I am no
expert, Zulu theory or no Zulu theory!

I scoured the Internet for reports of a wave forming; nothing at first but
the report was revised to 8.2mg & depth 45kms much less worrying for us. I
called friends in UK & Dubai to see what was being reported.

Indonesia dropped its Tsunami warning 1 hour after the A?A?QuakeA?A? as no wave
had come ashore. A 9ft wave, equal to a lot of the waves we get every day in
Arugam Bay especially in A?A?Surf seasonA?A? (although they are very different
forms of waves) was reported coming ashore in Padang & a 55cm one on the
Cacaos Islands. Tsunami did arrive but small & not our shores. In fact the
March earthquake did produce a 30cm & 35cm Tsunami to come ashore in Sri
Lanka, just we did not notice.

8.2 is 10x less than 9.2 on the A?A?Richter ScaleA?A? I am told, also being 9x
deeper means there is a lot of A?A?earthA?A? to soak up the energy created before
displacing the Ocean, forming a Tsunami wave.

In my surfing of the net I did discover the A?A?Indian Ocean Tsunami Detection
SystemA?A? should be operational this month.
.

Downside A?A? all the mobile lines went dead after the warning was given, then
landlines went, Internet & text messages were still getting through? I
enquired with my supplier A?A?DialogA?A? the first 3 times I posed the question
the person or persons I asked put the phone own on me, when I eventually got
through asking for a supervisor before posing the question, I was told
A?A?Network IssueA?A? when I asked A?A?what was the issueA?A? phone went down on me
again!?

The up side of all this is the fact we were given warning, 2 hours warning,
enough time to be well out of any danger posed if a major event ever
happened again, takes the panic out of it, meaning we can organise
procedures and rest more securely in our hammocks. A great step forward in
my opinion, well done to the authorities.

Steve (A little Knowledge is a dangerous thing) Jones

Warning notice as sent to e-mail or phone.

Magnitude A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A?8.4
Date-Time

* Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 11:10:26 UTC
* Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 06:10:26 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? 4.520A?A?S, 101.374A?A?E
Depth A?A?34 km (21.1 miles) set by location program
Region A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? 130 km (80 miles) SW of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
410 km (255 miles) SSE of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
620 km (385 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
695 km (435 miles) SSW of SINGAPORE
Location Uncertainty A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? horizontal +/- 6.1 km (3.8 miles); depth
fixed by location program
Parameters A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? Nst=286, Nph=286, Dmin=809.9 km, Rmss=1.11 sec, Gp=
29A?A?,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=V
Source

USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? A?A? us2007hear