On Today’s Day: Mw8.6 and Mw8.2 Indian Ocean Earthquakes
The magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 earthquakes occurred undersea near the Indonesian province of Aceh on April 11, 2012, at 15:38 local time and were unusually strong intraplate earthquakes. The earthquake's epicenter was located within the Indo-Australian Plate, which is divided into two sub- or proto-plates: the Indian, and Australian. The quake was caused by at least four undersea fault ruptures southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, within a 2-minute, 40-second period.
Two people lost their lives due to damage caused by earthquakes and eight others died from heart attacks. The quake was felt from India to Australia, including throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Fortunately, there were no major tsunamis and very little damage, as well as few fatalities, especially for this size of an earthquake. This was due to it occurring in the ocean and away from coastlines.
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Picture 1: Location of 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes.
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Among natural hazards, geophysical hazards are one of the most common as well as one of the most life-endangering ones.
Earthquakes and tsunamis are natural disasters that are sometimes closely connected through a cause-and-effect relationship.
Blog focuses on two primary scales used to measure earthquakes: the Richter scale and the Moment Magnitude scale.