Photograph — The New York Times

Over 100 people were killed early Wednesday morning after a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake, which shook Sumatra’s northernmost province, Aceh, had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5, according to the United States Geological Survey. The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said that the temblor, which struck after 5am at a depth of about six miles, was centred in Pidie Jaya, a region on Aceh’s east coast, adjacent to the Strait of Malacca.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Agency for Disaster Management, said earlier that more than 500 people had been injured, 125 of them seriously. More than 160 homes and more than 100 buildings, including 14 mosques and a school, were also damaged. “The panicked residents in Pidie Jaya had to run for their lives from homes and other buildings. At least five aftershocks were felt after the quake,” Mr Supoto said.

Medical teams were transferring some survivors to the town of Sigli, the capital of the neighboring region of Pidie, because of overcrowding at hospitals in Pidie Jaya, The Jakarta Post reported. Both Indonesian and international aid organizations were sending teams to Aceh to assist in the disaster. As rescue and relief operations continued, another earthquake, with a magnitude of 5, struck nearby late Wednesday. No injuries or damage were immediately reported.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin, the AP said. The 2004 quake and tsunami killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries. More than half of Indonesia’s population of 148 million live in quake-prone areas.

It’s been more than 10 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake devastated parts of Indonesia Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. The earthquake hit at just before 1am GMT or 7:58am local time on 26 December 2004. The magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck 30km below the surface around 160km off the western coast of northern Sumatra. The Burma plate subducted below the Indian plate, with the latter being thrust upwards 20m. Rather than small sections of the plate shifting, a stretch of 1,200km suddenly moved.

The waves travelled about two kilometres inland in some areas. The reason the waves were so devastating was that much of the coast affected was very low-lying, so the water could continue to travel inland, wrecking everything in its path. The tsunami was travelling with so much energy it went as far as 5,000km to Africa, where it still had enough force to destroy property and kill people. 14 countries were affected by the disaster: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and the Seychelles.

About five million people were affected by the tsunami and the global response to the tsunami was unprecedented, with billions raised shortly after the disaster. The Disaster Emergency Committee launched its appeal on 29 December and raised £392 from the British public. But most of the money was used in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India, where it was used to rebuild homes that had been destroyed.

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