Tsunami warning after earthquake hits off Indonesia|Timing & Picture
1.00am Below, Acehnese attend to patients evacuated out of hospital buildings in capital Banda Aceh.
INDONESIA-QUAKE
Acehnese attend to patients evacuated out of hospital buildings in capital Banda Aceh after a powerful earthquake hit the western coast of Sumatra in Aceh province on April 11, 2012. A massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, US and Indonesian monitors reported, prompting an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert
12.35am Although there were no initial reports of casualties, pictures have begun emerging of damage caused by after the quakes. Below, onlookers inspect damaged walls at a prison in Aceh province in Indonesia.
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Onlookers inspect walls damaged by the earthquake at a prison in Aceh province in Indonesia.
12.24am In Phuket, Geelong man Peter Williamson, 30, of the "total chaos" he encountered as tourists and locals ran from the beach to a nearby mountain.
"We were having a few drinks at a bar and people just started bolting down the street. One of my mates heard someone yell 'tsunami'. We bolted. Everyone was panicking at the start but once we got a fair way up the mountain everyone relaxed a bit."
12.10am Brisbane tourist Jodie Schafer (below), on holiday with boyfriend Anthony Ambrosio, has told of scenes of panic in Patong, Thailand.
She The Courier-Mail that about 3.45pm, people started running for the escalators.
"All of a sudden people started running in droves up stairs, escalators. People were pushing, shoving. We were asking what was happening, but the locals didn't say they just packed up their shops and fled. The other tourists were shouting that there was an earthquake and tsunami warning."
Jodie Schafer and Anthony Ambrosio in Thailand in Patong.
11.55pm Australian Steven Sewell, who runs a surfing charter business in Padang, West Sumatra, has told of experiencing the fear in the streets as residents sought safety.
"It lasted a very long time ... We headed to higher ground above the river for two hours then the second one (aftershock) hit. The second one was almost as long as the first one. Just prolonged shaking from side to side... Pretty scary when your pregnant wife's in the car."
11.48pm Guests at luxury seaside resorts in the Maldives have been evacuated from beaches and given life jackets until the tsunami alert was cancelled.
A spokesman for the Hilton Iru Fushi resort, where 420 guests were evacuated, told
We asked all our guests to gather on a building in the centre of the island. We also gave them life jackets as a precaution. Soon after, we learnt there was no tsunami threat.
11.43pm Indonesian and Sri Lankan authorities say residents are safe return to their homes after tsunami warnings were cancelled.
11.22pm Images from throughout the region highlight the impact of the earthquakes and tsunami fears. Below, in Indonesia, a woman cries out amid a scene of panic as residents of Banda Aceh evacuate. Picture: EPA
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In the tourist area of Phuket, Thailand, tourists are shown on the roadside after being evacuated.
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In Sri Lanka, coastline residents take refuge on higher ground at Dehiwala, a suburb of Colombo.
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Sri Lankan coastline residents take refuge on higher ground at Dehiwala, a suburb of Colombo, on April 11, 2012. Sri Lanka issued a tsunami warning across the tropical island April 11 and the disaster management centre asked coastal residents to move inland. A government statement said waves could hit the island's northeastern port district of Trincomalee and urged an orderly evacuation of the coastal strip. AFP PHOTO/ LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI
The tsunami alert spread as far as Pakistan. Below, people enjoying a camel ride on a beach in Karachi today appear unfazed.
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11.04pm The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has cancelled its warning of a possible tsunami.
"Sea level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished for most areas, therefore the tsunami watch issued by this center is now cancelled."
10.46pm The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has lifted a tsunami watch for most areas of the Indian Ocean. It remains in effect for Indonesia, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and the island territory of Diego Garcia.
10.35pm India continues to run a nuclear power station but temporarily closed an east-coast port after authorities issued tsunami warnings, Dow Jones reports.
Nuclear Power Corp of India chairman S.K. Jain said the state-run company's plant in southern India was operating normally and that there were no immediate plans to shut operations.
An official at the Chennai port in southern India said operations at the facility were shut as a precaution following an advisory from the government.
The tsunami warnings also prompted software exporters Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Cognizant Technology Solutions to temporarily evacuate staff from centres around Chennai, executives at these companies said separately.
10.30pm At least three tsunamis of up to 80cm have hit Indonesia's coast.
"Our tide gauges and buoys recorded small tsunamis," Said Kristiawan of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.
He said the highest, measuring 80cm, was in Meulaboh in western Aceh, and other smaller ones were recorded in nearby coastal regions.
All were recorded at 8.04pm (AEST), almost an hour and a half after the initial quake, he said.
10.26pm Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs says there have been no reports of any Australians being caught up in the disaster, but authorities are continuing to closely monitor the situation.
DFAT's latest update says Australian embassies bordering on the Indian Ocean region, including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Burma have contacted Australians registered in the region via email advising them to follow local authorities advice specific to their location.
The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is liaising with the Indonesian authorities about any potential damage to infrastructure and tourist areas. Only one report of building damage at this point.
for the Indian Ocean Earthquake and advises Australian citizens to follow the advice of the local authorities.
If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the region, you should first attempt to contact them directly. If you are unable to contact them and still hold concerns for their welfare, you should call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre of 1300 555 135 (option 6).
10.21pm Kenya is the latest country to issue a tsunami warning. Residents in coastal areas have been told to move away from beaches and ordered schools in the area to close, saying a tsunami might hit about 3am (AEST) (8pm local time).
"All fishermen and other people undertaking economic activities along the coastline ... among others, hoteliers, tour operators, water sports and curio shops, are advised to keep off the beaches immediately," Esther Murugi, minister for special programs said.
10.14pm Peter Coburn from the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre has told Sky News that small waves have already been recorded at Australia's Christmas and Cocos Islands.
He said very small waves were expected to hit the Western Australian coastline about 9.30-10pm (WST) (11.30pm-midnight AEST).
10.07pm This picture posted on Twitter by @kirstenmildren shows friends at the tourist resort of Krabi, Thailand, evacuated to higher ground. "Nice sunset at least".
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This picture posted on Twitter by @kirstenmildren shows friends at the tourist resort of Krabi, Thailand, evacuated to higher ground. "Nice sunset at least".
10.00pm More reports from coastal regions around the Indian Ocean are emerging. In Tamil Nadu in southern India, police cordoned off the beach and used loudspeakers to warn people to leave the area.
The quake was felt in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where many people in the city's commercial Motijheel district left their offices and homes in panic and ran into the streets. No damage or causalities were reported.
In Male, the capital of the Maldives, buildings were evacuated.
9.55pm A "minor tsunami" of 31cm has been reported at Sabang, on the coast of Indonesia.
Mok Hing-yim, senior scientific officer at the Hong Kong Observatory, described the tsunami as "not very significant".
"But we cannot ignore that there will be some higher tsunami along the coast of Indonesia. The reading indicated that a tsunami has been generated."
Geoscience Australia specialist Daniel Jaksa said "there's definitely tsunami signals reaching the Sumatran coast".
"Off the coast off Indonesia at the moment there's 50cm. Fifty centimetres can be quite dangerous. You only need about 20cm to lift up a car and make it move, so this is not insignificant."
9.46pm A tsunami warning has been issued for France's Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
9.44pm There have been witness reports of huge waves surging on the Indonesian coast, Sky News reports.
9.42pm There's a report of a tsunami measuring 10cm hits Thai coast. "A 10cm tsunami wave generated by the first earthquake hit Koh Miang off Phang Nga," the director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, Somsak Khaosuwan, said on Thai television.
9.40pm A Thailand resort says its guest are on the roof of the building, while other resorts on the island of Phuket have reportedly been evacuated after an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.
Serene Resort on Kata Beach, Phuket, says many Australians are staying at its 117 room establishment.
"They're on the roof, they're not worried," a spokeswoman told AAP.
9.24pm Images from Aceh show residents fleeing, hugging and praying in panic as the 8.6 earthquake hit.
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Acehnese women hug each other and pray shortly after the powerfull earthquake hit.
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Acehnese people try to go to higher ground after the earthquake.
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Acehnese people run after the earthquake hit western coast of Sumatra.
9.21pm Indonesia has issued a fresh tsunami warning in the wake of the 8.2 aftershock.
Harjadi, a local official who goes by only one name, said the new tsunami warning was for residents living along the western coast of the country.
It included Sumatra island and the Mentawai islands.
9.19pm An 8.2-magnitude aftershock has struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, following a stronger quake that triggered an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.
The US Geological Survey said the aftershock struck at 8.43pm (AEST), 615 km from Banda Aceh.
9.15pm Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs is monitoring the situation.
"Australians in the affected areas should monitor local news and radio and follow the advice of local authorities in the first instance," DFAT said in a travel bulletin tonight.
Australians who need assistance should contact their nearest Australian embassy, high commission or consulate, or call DFAT's Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305.
People concerned about Australian friends or relatives in the region should try to contact them first before calling the emergency centre.
9.05pm Images from Indonesian television after the quake show people fleeing on foot, by car and motorcycle in the minutes after the earthquake hit.
Indonesia Earthquake
In this image made from Indonesian television TV One, two women react on a street shortly after they ran out from a building when a strong earthquake hit in Aceh in Indonesia.
Indonesia Earthquake
Motorcycles and cars flee after a strong earthquake hit in Aceh, as seen on Indonesian television TV One.
Indonesia Earthquake
The scene on a street in Aceh, Indonesia shortly after a strong earthquake hit, as shown on Indonesian television TV One.
Indonesia Earthquake
A woman hugging a girl uses a mobile phone shortly after they ran out from a building when a strong earthquake.
8.58pm Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British geological survey who has studied Sumatra's fault lines, says the temblor was a strike-slip quake, not a thrust quake.
In a strike slip quake, the earth moves horizontally rather than vertically and doesn't displace large volumes of water.
"When I first saw this was an 8.7 near Sumatra, I was fearing the worst," he said, noting one of the initial reported magnitudes for the quake. "But as soon as I discovered what type of earthquake it was, then I felt a lot better."
8.53pm A geophysicist with the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, Victor Sardina, told AFP the tsunami was "not anywhere near" as large as the devastating tsunamis that struck Asia in 2004 and Japan last year.
He said the tsunami measured a mere 35cm near Padang, Indonesia, but could swell to as high as 1m near Sri Lanka, adding that US scientists were still carefully monitoring the situation.
8.48pm There has been no sign of the feared tsunami wave - which authorities feared would hit about 8.40pm (AEST), AP reports. Damage also appears to be minimal.
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