Once again a major Earthquake rocked Jakarta today. The last time was early morning August 8th. I slept right through it, although I had a friend who said she was awoken by the sound of her chandeliers rattling. I figured “No chandeliers! That's why I didn't wake up.” This time I felt nothing even though it happened in the middle of the afternoon while I was wide-awake. Hi-rise buildings here and in Singapore swayed and were evacuated. I think the height of the buildings must amplify the effects of the earthquake. Maybe if I was sitting at the table staring at a glass of water I would have seen the water move. I'm not complaining though, I am perfectly happy to have lived through a 7.9 magnitude earthquake and felt nothing.
There are tsunami warnings this time affecting the Indian Ocean, for those who are geography impaired that is the south side of the archipelago. Jakarta is located on the north side of the island. While we are discussing geography, the epicenter of the earthquake was located in Bengkulu Province, Southern Sumatra, several hundred miles away so it wasn’t really in Jakarta. More the distance of San Antonio to Lubbock.
UPDATE - Thursday morning
The earth is still restless. Aftershocks all evening and into the morning. Any one of the aftershocks would qualify as a pretty major earthquake. This morning the news is reporting yesterdays earthquake as stronger than originally thought, as high as 8.4 magnitude. The news is also reporting some pretty major damage, injuries and casualties, but how bad it is depends on which channel you are watching. I don't have enough Bahasa Indonesia to watch the local news so no help there. I am probably watching the same CNN broadcast here that you are in the states.
There has been another quake in excess of 7.0 this morning and another tsunami warning for the Indian Ocean. At what point is a quake a quake not just another aftershock? Is there a magic number? Things that make you go hmmm...Still haven't felt a thing here, thank goodness.
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