Indonesia Earthquakes 2009: News, Photos, & Videos
As the world's fourth most populous nation, Indonesia consists of about 13,000 islands and sits astride the notorious Ring of Fire. This volatile network of volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches nearly encircles the Pacific Ocean and is where 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur. Sumatra, bisected by the equator, contains a western coast that is stippled with dozens of active volcanoes and just offshore of it lies the seismically active Sunda Trench.¹
The devastating 7.6M southern Sumatra earthquake of September 30, 2009 occurred as a result of oblique-thrust faulting near the subduction interface plate boundary between the Australian and Sunda plates. This megathrust earthquake event - 8.5M or larger - last occured in 1797.² The second event, a 6.6M earthquake, was a result of shallow strike-slip faulting within the Sunda Plate. The earthquake was 270 km southeast of the previous day's event offshore Padang.³
Earthquake Facts & Reports
- 6.1M earthquake shakes Java October 16
- 6.6M second quake strikes October 1
- 7.6M earthquake hits September 29
- Death toll exceeds 1,100; thousands more thought to be missing
- Pacific Ring of Fire
- Meteorological Climatological and Geophysical Agency
- Padang Earthquake Clearinghouse EERI
- 7M earthquake strikes September 2
Latest News & Resources
- (11-17-09) – Engineer Online: Earthquake data prepares vulnerable communities
- (10-16-09) – BBC: Quake shakes Indonesian capital
- (10-16-09) – USGS: 6.1M October 16 earthquake
- (10-14-09) – BBC: Tsunami drill across Indian Ocean
- (10-08-09) – SF Chronicle: Landslides raise death toll in Indonesia
- (10-06-09) – Wall Street Journal: Lax Regulation of Construction Cost Lives in Indonesian Quake, Experts Say
- (10-06-09) – LA Times: Indonesia will face a far more devastating earthquake, seismologists warn
- (10-06-09) – BBC: Sumatra relief effort increased
- (10-06-09) – BBC: Search ends for Sumatra survivors
- (10-05-09) – Jakarta Post: Dense soil, light materials vital: Experts
- (10-05-09) – BBC: Sumatra quake 'levelled villages'
- (10-05-09) – BBC: Inside Sumatra's devastated villages
- (10-02-09) – BBC: Thousands still trapped by quake
- (10-02-09) – BBC: Indonesia awaits world quake aid
- (10-02-09) – BBC: Shattered Padang tries to cope
- (10-02-09) – UN: UN assessment teams to survey damage wreaked by deadly quakes
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Indonesia quake deaths pass 1,100
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Eyewitness: Sumatra earthquake
- (10-01-09) – NY Times: At Least 529 Killed by Quake on Indonesia Island
- (10-01-09) – Telegraph: More than 1,000 feared dead in Sumatra earthquake
- (10-01-09) – Telegraph: Asia Pacific earthquake disasters caused by separate faults
- (10-01-09) – Reuters: Thousands feared dead after Indonesia quake
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Indonesia quake deaths pass 500
- (10-01-09) – Telegraph: Second earthquake hits Indonesian island where thousands feared dead
- (10-01-09) – Jakarta Post: West Sumatra earthquake death toll reaches 200
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Hundreds feared trapped in Sumatra
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Eyewitnesses describe quake
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Earthquakes weaken distant faults
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Padang: city on a fault line
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Padang lives with quake stress
- (10-01-09) – USGS: 6.6M October 1 report
- (09-30-09) – BBC: Dozens dead in Indonesian quake
- (09-30-09) – USGS: 7.6M September 30 report
- (09-02-09) – BBC: Indonesia Quake Search Stepped Up
- (09-02-09) – BBC: Buildings collapse in Indonesia quake
- (09-02-09) – USGS: 7M September 2 report
Videos & Photo Galleries & Maps
- BBC: Aerial view of Sumatra devastation
- Wall Street Journal:Shaky Ground in the Western Pacific
- BBC: Devastation in Sumatra
- Kompas
- BBC: Moments after the Sumatra quake
- BBC: Indonesian rescue effort
- BBC: Sumatra quake survivor pulled from rubble
- Google Map: Ring of Fire quakes
- LA Times: Indonesia earthquake
- BBC: Indonesian quake
- Telegraph: Indonesia earthquake