Latest news with #Mercalli
Gulf Today
24-05-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
5.7 quake damages over 100 houses in Indonesia
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, damaging more than 100 houses with no reports of casualties. The tremor hit at 02:52 am local time (1952 GMT Thursday) at a depth of 68 kilometres, with the epicentre offshore near Bengkulu province, according to the USGS. The country's meteorological agency gave a higher magnitude of 6.0 with the epicentre at a depth of 84 kilometres, adding that there was no potential for a tsunami. The tremor damaged more than 100 houses and at least six public facilities in the provincial capital of Bengkulu city, Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency, or BNPB, said in a press conference on Friday. 'In Bengkulu city, 140 houses were affected (by the quake), eight of which collapsed, meaning (they) cannot be repaired,' Abdul said. In the Central Bengkulu district, two houses were lightly damaged due to the quake, he added. Abdul said no casualties from the quake were reported as of Friday morning. Some locals in Bengkulu were woken up by the jolt and immediately rushed outside. 'During the quake... (my) house's window shook strongly. That was what woke us up,' Erick Catur Nugroho, 36, told AFP. 'We spontaneously (carried) the children outside the house. When outside, all the neighbours that I saw were not in their house, (they were) in front of the doors.' The vast archipelago nation experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. A magnitude-6.2 quake that shook Sulawesi in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless. In 2018, a magnitude-7.5 quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi killed more than 2,200 people. And in 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck Aceh province causing a tsunami. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity of IX in some areas. Agencies
Egypt Independent
15-05-2025
- Science
- Egypt Independent
Is there any connection between the 2025 Crete earthquake and the 1992 Cairo earthquake?
The National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) revealed the reason why some areas felt Wednesday's earthquake more than areas closer to the epicenter. The NRIAG reported that earthquake on Wednesday felt by residents measured 6.4 on the Richter scale and occurred 431 kilometers north of the city of Rashid, at a depth of 76 kilometers below the Earth's surface. Many worried citizens have compared the earthquake that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning to the devastating 1992 Cairo earthquake, which resulted in over 500 deaths and 12,000 people injured. NRIAG stated, via its X account, that there is a difference between the strength and intensity of an earthquake. The strength is a fixed number that expresses the amount of energy released from the epicenter, while intensity expresses its impact and varies from one region to another. The intensity of an earthquake meanwhile varies according to several factors, such as distance from the epicenter, soil type, and the nature and resistance of the impacted building. The Modified Mercalli scale is often used to estimate the intensity of earthquakes, ranging from I, which is imperceptible, to XII, which represents total destruction. The institute said that comparisons between earthquakes are unscientific and lack any physical basis. This is because earthquake sources are different, and the propagation of seismic waves varies from one region to another. It also added that there are complex geological and technical factors; a 6.5 magnitude earthquake may cause destruction in one area while passing through another without damage – what matters in this case is intensity, not strength. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
United News of India
15-05-2025
- Climate
- United News of India
5.9-magnitude earthquake hits off eastern Indonesia, no tsunami alert issued
Jakarta, May 15 (UNI) An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted off Indonesia's eastern Maluku province on Thursday morning, without triggering large waves, the country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said. The tremors occurred at 07:50 a.m. Jakarta time (0050 GMT) with the quake epicenter situated 189 km southwest of Maluku Barat Daya Regency and at a depth of 515 km beneath the seabed. The intensity of the tremors was measured at III MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) in Tiakur, the regency's capital city. No tsunami warning was issued as the tremors would not potentially generate large waves. Indonesia, an archipelago, is highly earthquake-prone due to its position within the seismically active "Pacific Ring of Fire." UNI XINHUA ARN
