Powerful Earthquake Strikes Western Indonesia
Pastor Dale Morgan
Powerful Earthquake Strikes Western Indonesia*
Wednesday October 24, 2007 11:01 PM
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia
Thursday, prompting local authorities to issue a tsunami warning and
sending panicked residents fleeing from their homes.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and struck 85 miles west of
Bengkulu, a coastal town off Sumatra island, the U.S. Geological Survey
said. It was centered 18 miles beneath the ocean floor.
Residents in Bengkulu fled their homes with their families and
belongings, some jumping into cars and onto motorcycles, el-Shinta radio
reported.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with a population of 235
million people, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on
the ``Ring of Fire,'' an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the
Pacific Basin.
Bengkulu was hit by a series of powerful tremors last month that killed
23 people and triggered a small tsunami.