May 2010 Northern Sumatra earthquake
Encyclopedia
The May 2010 Northern Sumatra earthquake was a 7.2 Mw
earthquake that occurred on May 9, 2010, at 12:59 PM local time (5:59 UTC), off the island of Sumatra
in Indonesia. The epicenter was 215 km from Banda Aceh
. According to USGS, it is likely that this earthquake occurred along the interface of the Indo-Australia Plate and the Sunda Plate. It was one of a sequence of large earthquakes along the Sunda megathrust in 2000s. Besides in Indonesia, this earthquake was also felt in Laos
, Malaysia, Myanmar
, Singapore
and Thailand
. Minor damage was reported in the control tower of an airport near Meulaboh
, where the intensity was MM VII.
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
earthquake that occurred on May 9, 2010, at 12:59 PM local time (5:59 UTC), off the island of Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
in Indonesia. The epicenter was 215 km from Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...
. According to USGS, it is likely that this earthquake occurred along the interface of the Indo-Australia Plate and the Sunda Plate. It was one of a sequence of large earthquakes along the Sunda megathrust in 2000s. Besides in Indonesia, this earthquake was also felt in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Malaysia, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Minor damage was reported in the control tower of an airport near Meulaboh
Meulaboh
Meulaboh is the capital of West Aceh Regency, Indonesia. Meulaboh is among the hardest hit areas by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Being just 150 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, Meulaboh was hit by tsunami, leaving the estimated deaths of 40,000 people out of 120,000...
, where the intensity was MM VII.