TEMPO.CO, Bandung-Earthquake observer and researcher in Bandung said a minor tsunami occurred after a 7.8 Richter scale earthquake from the southwestern of Mentawai Island shook the region on Wednesday.
The tsunami was about 5-10 cm high at the land around the epicenter. “Such minor tsunami is hardly differed with ordinary tidal wave,” said an earthquake researcher from Bandung Institute of Technology, Irwan Meilano on Thursday, March 3, 2016.
Earlier on Wednesday night, a 7.8 magnitude quake shook Mentawai Island. The epicenter is at 682 km of southwest Mentawai Island and West Sumatra with 10 km depth.
According to Irwan, it was not too deep and the tsunami potential was small. Soon after the quake, the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an early warning of tsunami.
An earthquake researcher Eko Yulianto said government must fix the earthquake alarm system in western Sumatra. “The tsunami potential was small but people were so panic,” he said on Thursday.
Eko said, the minor tsunami also occurred at Cocos Island or Keeling Island located at the center of Hindia Ocen and are in Australia territory. “It was informed that in Cocos and Padang [the tsunami was] about 5 centimeter,” he said.
The epicenter of the quake was at the crust of Indo-Australian plate.
The crust of the plate was torn-apart and shifted with different speed resulting to a strike-slip tectonics. Such quake was occurred once on April 11, 2012 and without big tsunami. Both Irwan and Eko said tsunami can be soon detected from the buoys which are now mostly damaged.
ANWAR SISWADI