Adaman Restlessness
Jan 27, 2005

Another 5.6 Richter earthquake in Tsunami hit Nicobar Island
January 27, 2005
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/01-27e-05.asp

The bizarre pattern of aftershocks ranging between 5.2 and 6.2 Richter continues in the Tsunami hit Nicobar island of India. The tribal people are saying that many miles below the earth’s surface, something is happening they never experienced before. India's remote Andaman and Nicobar archipelago has been hit by a series of aftershocks since a 9.0-strong earthquake off Aceh on December 26 which produced tsunamis that struck shores across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 280,000 people.

 

India’s Andaman islands shaken by 28 aftershocks in 24 hours [Jan 28]

At least 28 tremors have rattled India’s tsunami-lashed Andaman and Nicobar Islands over the past 24 hours, a meteorological department official said on Friday. The undersea tremors were aftershocks of a December 26 earthquake which registered 9.0 on the Richter scale and triggered killer tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean, the official said. The shocks ranged between 5.0 and 5.8 on the Richter scale. The latest quakes took the number of aftershocks felt in the tropical paradise to 166 since December 26 when the huge undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered tidal waves that left more than 283,000 dead throughout Asia. On Thursday a tremor off Indonesia’s northern Sumatra island measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale.

 

Andaman quakes leave seismologists worried [Jan 28]

The seismology department of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Earth Sciences Department of the Indian Institute of Technology here have recorded over 120 such unusual events in the islands following the December 26 earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale that triggered tsunamis which wreaked havoc in several parts of the country. Whether these events are foreshocks or aftershocks - it is not clear, and has to be taken up seriously and the data analysed as fast as possible. Both `strike slip and `dip slip are taking place simultaneously and these factors have to be taken very seriously both by scientists and authorities.

 

The Jakarta Post [Jan 29]

According to Danny Hilman Natawidjaya of the Indonesian Institute of Science's (LIPI) Geotechnology Center, the northern part of Ache is some 1.3 meters above sea level, while the southern part is now below sea level. Some islands in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, have been elevated to two meters to three meters above sea level, which has also expanded their surface area. The coastlines of Meulaboh and Banda Aceh had sunk by about one meter, causing the disappearance of a number of beaches. The coastline of the northern part of Simelue island is about 300 meters from where it was previously and coral reefs that had been visible in shallow waters, are now part of the island.