Tsunami alert after 7.7 magnitude quake hits Indian Ocean

HONG KONG: A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean on Sunday near India”s Nicobar Islands, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake hit at 1:26 am local time (1926 GMT) at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) with the epicentre around 160 kilometres west of the Nicobar Islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami watch for all areas of the Indian Ocean following the quake.

Federal Budget with outlay of Rs3.259 trln presented

ISLAMABAD: Finance Advisor Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh presented Federal Budget for 2010-11 with a total outlay of Rs3.259 trillion before the parliament on Saturday.

In his budget speech at special budget session of the National Assembly, Dr. Hafeez Shaikh announced ad hoc allowance at 50 percent of basic salaries for government employees; raise in GST from 16 to 17 percent; 10 percent cut in Federal Cabinet salaries; capital gains tax of 10 percent on stocks held for six months or less, 7.5 percent on stocks held between 6 months to a year; reduction in customs duty on 29 items; raise in pension by 15 percent for employees retired before 2001 and 20 percent for those retired after 2001.

Tax revenue is targeted at 1.78 trillion rupees out of which the Federal Board of Revenue will collect 1.667 trillion rupees, about 9.8 percent of GDP.

Non-tax revenue is targeted at 632.2 billion rupees. Revenue from direct taxes is targeted at 657.7 billion rupees and revenue from indirect taxes is targeted at 1.12 trillion rupees. Subsidies will be reduced to 126.68 billion rupees from 228.99 billion rupees.

The general sales tax will be reformed to a uniform rate of 15 percent. GST will not be imposed on health, education, food items and on those merchants whose turnover is less 7.5million rupees.

This reform will be effective from October 1, 2010.

Phet passing through Balochistan belt

KARACHI: Tropical Cyclone has moved eastwards in the last six hours along Mekran Coast and now is located at 24 N-62 E southwest of Pasni.

According to a cyclone warning issued by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) here Saturday evening, the system is likely to move eastward during the next 12 hours, making landfall some where west of Karachi on Sunday (with maximum sustained winds 70-90 Km/hour gusting upto 120 km/hour) with associated storm surge of 3-5 meters.

Under the influence of this system, extremely heavy rainfall is occurring in coastal areas of Balochistan (Gwadar 370 mm, Jiwani 208 mm, Pasni 127 mm, Turbat 63 mm) accompanied with very strong wind gusting to 120 km/hour. More rain heavy to heavy accompanied with strong gusty winds are expected in Balochistan during the next 24 hours.

Sindh is also expected to receive widespread heavy rainfall in the next 2 days starting from Saturday evening and gradually increasing allerwards. Heavy rains may cause urban/ clash flooding in Balochistan and Sindh including Karachi, it said.

Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre of Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned fishermen of Sindh and Balochistan not to venture in open sea till further orders.

The irrigation authorities in Sindh and Balochistan are advised to reduce inflow in irrigation system, it added.

Tsunami alerts lifted after major Indonesia quake

SINABANG: A major earthquake of 7.7 magnitude struck off the coast of Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday triggering panic and power blackouts, although a tsunami alert was later lifted.

Neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia, lying east of Sumatra, also cancelled tsunami warnings.

A UK-based news agency photographer in Sinabang on Simeulue island, south of Aceh, said that electricity was cut in the area and that he saw four injured people, including a child with a head wound who had been hit by fallen masonry.

Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said earlier there had not been reports of damage or casualties so far.

“I am on the coast now, some people had gone to take refuge on higher ground but now they have returned to their homes,” Yusuf told Metro TV.

The resource-rich island of Sumatra is an important supplier of commodities such as rubber, palm oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but there were no immediate reports of delays in shipments because of the quake.

The quake, which struck around 5:15 a.m. (2215 GMT), was centred 200 km (125 miles) west-northwest of the coastal town of Sibolga and was at a depth of 31 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicentre was around 215 km from Medan, the largest city on Sumatra.

There were at least three aftershocks after the initial major quake.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially warned the quake could generate a local tsunami, but later cancelled its tsunami watch, saying: “Sea level readings indicate that a significant tsunami was not generated.”

An official from Indonesia”s meteorology agency said a tiny tsunami of only 3 cm (1 inch) had been detected at Sinabang and lifted its own tsunami warning.

A Metro TV reporter in the Sibolga area of North Sumatra said that he fell off his motorbike when the quake struck and the force left electricity poles swaying for minutes afterwards.

Tremors from the quake were felt in Dumai, in Sumatra”s Riau province about 1,100 km from the epicentre, a local news agency reported.

Hamid Sarong, a resident of Aceh”s provincial capital Banda Aceh, which was devastated by a tsunami in 2004, said that the quake was felt while people in the staunchly Muslim province were at dawn prayers, although there was no panic.

Sumatra lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, one of the world”s most active seismic faultlines, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

In December 2004, a magnitude 9.15 quake off Aceh triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 226,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.

A 7.6 magnitude quake struck last September off the city of Padang, southeast of Wednesday”s epicentre, killing more than 1,000 people.

Earthquake brings down houses on Indonesia’s Sumatra

PADANG: Latest updates about Earthquake brings down houses on Indonesia’s Sumatra,  A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the city of Padang on the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, damaging houses, bringing down bridges and starting fires, a witness said.

The quake was felt around the region, with some high-rise buildings in the neighbouring city state of Singapore, 275 miles (440 km) away, evacuating their staff.

A regional tsunami warning was issued, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Japan’s meteorological agency said. It was unclear if there were any casualties.

“Hundreds of houses have been damaged along the road. There are some fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here maybe because water pipes are broken and there is flooding in the streets,” said a witness in the city.

Phone lines were down.

The depth of the tsunami was measured at 85 km, the United States Geological Survey said.

Indonesia is situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire”. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.9.

A series of tsunamis earlier smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, some washed out to sea, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday.

Padang, the capital of Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, sits on one of the world’s most active fault lines along the “Ring of Fire” where the Indo-Australia plate grinds against the Eurasia plate to create regular earth tremors and sometimes quakes.

A 9.15 magnitude quake, with its epicentre roughly 600 km (373 miles) northwest of Padang, caused the 2004 tsunami which killed 232,000 people in Indonesia’s Aceh province, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and other countries across the Indian Ocean.

Geologists have long said Padang, with a population of 900,000, may one day be destroyed by a huge earthquake because of its location.

“Padang sits right in front of the area with the greatest potential for an 8.9 magnitude earthquake,” said Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, a geologist at the Indonesian Science Institute, earlier this year.

“The entire city could drown,” in a tsunami triggered by such a quake, he warned.

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Earthquake brings down houses on Indonesia’s Sumatra was first posted on September 30, 2009 at 11:52 pm.

Tsunami in Samoa 2009 at least 100 people killed

Tsunami in Samoa 2009, A strong quake triggering tsunami in the South Pacific killed at least 100 people in the Samoa, totally devastating the islands, giving rise to the fears that death toll might exceed one hundred valuable lives.

An 8.3-magnitude quake struck at 1748 GMT, generating 15ft (4.5m) waves in some areas of Samoa and American Samoa. The Samoa islands comprise two separate entities – the nation of Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory – with a total population of about 250,000 people.

Eyewitness said, “”It caused severe damage to property, there are cars floating everywhere.” Reports pouring said that they had seen “bodies everywhere” in the main hospital in Lalomanu, on Samoa’s main island of Upolu, including at least one child.

South Korea’s news agency has reported that three South Koreans were among the dead and one is still missing. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said the quake struck at a depth of 33km (20 miles) some 190km (120 miles) from Apia. Waves of 5.1ft (1.57m) hit Apia and Pago Pago in American Samoa.

Radio New Zealand quoted Samoan residents as saying that villages were inundated and homes and cars swept away. People fled for higher ground as the waves approached Graeme Ansell, a New Zealander near Apia, told the radio station the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale had been “wiped out”.

“There’s not a building standing. We’ve all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need around here,” he said. Local radio stations had been receiving reports of high sea swells hitting coastal areas on the eastern and southern side of Upolu Island. Witnesses have reported scenes of destruction.

Talutala Mauala, Secretary General of the Red Cross in Samoa, said she was travelling to the country’s south coast, where injuries had also been reported. The high waves damaged property and swept cars out to sea. “We won’t know the full extent of the damage until we get there and see for ourselves,” she said.

Mase Akapo, a National Weather Service meteorologist in American Samoa, told a news agency that at least 14 people had been killed in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila. He said another 20 people had died Samoa.President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in American Samoa, enabling federal funding to make available to help victims.

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Tsunami in Samoa 2009 at least 100 people killed was first posted on September 30, 2009 at 12:59 pm.
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