Covenant News

Fifty Dead Following Indonesian Quake

INDONESIA (March 28, 2005) - Approximately 50 people are reported dead following a massive earthquake earlier today off the coast of Indonesia, CNN News reports. The earthquake, originally reported as a magnitude 8.2, was increased to a magnitude of 8.7 by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Those who died were on the island of Nias, near the epicenter of a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, CNN quotes sources as reporting.

Covenant World Relief (CWR) and missionaries of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) are keeping a close watch on developments in this region. Some experts fear the quake could trigger another tsunami similar to one that devastated the region on December 26, killing an estimated 175,000 people.

"We will be prepared to respond in the event of another disaster," says Jim Sundholm, CWR director. Earlier today, Sundholm spoke with Covenant News Service from Sweden, where he has been in meetings with representatives of the Covenant Church of Sweden as they continue to help rebuild areas destroyed by the tsunami in December.

"We have good partners on the ground," Sundholm said. One of those partners is the Hindustani Covenant Church (Covenant Church of India) that is sponsored by the Covenant Church of Sweden. Covenant World Relief is also working closely with the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (IFFEC) of which the ECC is a member. Together, the partners are continuing their work to rebuild homes and operate feeding programs on the islands of Andaman and Nicobar – among the first and hardest-hit areas in December's storm. The initiatives are being implemented through provisions of an Indian government program that works through local churches in affected areas.

Following today's earthquake, some residents in coastal regions of the Indian Ocean were urged to evacuate by U.S. officials, though the director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center could not say with certainty that the quake will cause another tsunami, according to a report from CNN News.

"There is a potential for some wave activity," says Julie Martinez, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center, in Golden, Colorado. Thailand issued a warning that the quake could bring a tsunami to its southern provinces, but did not issue an evacuation order.

The quake occurred at 11:09 a.m. Eastern Time and is considered a "great" earthquake - the largest of seven grades, the CNN report notes. (Grades are very minor, minor, light, moderate, strong, major and great.)

Tsunamis are distinguished from normal coastal surf by their great length and speed, according to the report. A single wave in a tsunami series might be 100 miles in length and move across the ocean at speeds approaching 600 miles per hour. When approaching a coastline, the wave slows dramatically, but also rises to great heights because the enormous volume of water piles up in shallow coastal bays.

More information will be posted to this Covenant online news report as it becomes available.

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