No tsunami but 3-metre waves surge ashore
An 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck southwest of Sumatra late Monday, triggering tsunami alerts around the Indian Ocean amid fears of a repeat of the December 26 disaster that killed 270,000 people.
Alerts were dropped within of hours as it emerged that the new quake, though close in location and scale to the earlier seismic event, would not result in the same widespread destruction despite at least 300 dead on the island of Nias.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. But according to officials and witnesses, some stretches of coastline experienced ocean surges, ranging from three-metre walls of water to waves racing kilometres inland.
Endang Suwaraya, a military commander in the western Indonesian province of Aceh, close to the epicentre of the quake, said he had received reports that large waves had ploughed into the main port on Simeulue island.
"I have obtained the information that in Simeulue there were tsunami waves of between two and three meters, damaging the wharf." he said.
He said several buildings collapsed, including the main hospital in the coastal town of Sinabang, where the island's airport was also affected.
"In Sinabang, a lot of buildings collapsed I do not know their precise number," he said, adding that the town's hospital suffered major damage.
He said there were also reports of a "tsunami" in the nearby Banyak islands, while waters surging inland on the coast of Aceh province on mainland Sumatra island caused the collapse of several bridges.
On Nias, a woman who identified herself as Ping Ping, described how the sea rose more than it had after last year's tsunami, which left Nias relatively unscathed but wreaked destruction elsewhere.
"The water level rose higher than last December, reaching in up to 30 meters," she said.
According to the state Antara news agency, the entire town of Aceh Singkil was levelled by the earthquake, although 10,000 were able to flee their homes.
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