Indonesia: tsunami warning lifted
Sisters Razi and Riska Damizi return to their destroyed home for the first time after the devastating tsunami of Dec 26 2004.
Several large earthquakes off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province caused only limited damage.
Help us respond to emergencies as soon as they happen>>
An 8.6 magnitude earthquake and a series of aftershocks struck under the sea about 300 miles from Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in Indonesia, on the morning of Wednesday 11 April.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning across the entire Indian Ocean region, but lifted it several hours later.
Our partner YPK, who work near the districts of Aceh most likely to be affected, reported that people in the coastal districts responded quickly to the tsunami warning and evacuated.
Vincentia Widyasari from our sister agency Caritas Indonesia said: “Up until now, we haven’t heard information about major damage, but we are continuing to monitor the situation and remain alert."
Our emergency response team were in close contact with partners on the ground as the situation evolved, and remain ready to respond if needed.
Not a repeat of 2004
Kate Crowley, our Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser, said: “Fortunately this wasn’t a repeat of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The earthquakes on 11 April were the result of what’s known as strike-slip faulting, where two fault lines slide past each other. They didn’t raise or “flip” the sea bed, which is what can displace large amounts of sea-water and lead to a tsunami.”
We have worked in Aceh since the major tsunami of 2004, which killed 170,000 people in the province alone. As well as providing emergency relief after the tsunami, our partners across Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India built 4,500 new homes and 26 schools and helped 55,000 people to restart their businesses through replacing equipment and stock, providing training and setting up savings groups.
Please keep the people of the region in your thoughts and prayers.
