Quake sparks mass panic
2005-03-29 09:54
Banda Aceh - It was as though hundreds of thousands of people around the Indian Ocean were suffering a collective nightmare: the tsunami was coming again.
From the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to the shores of India and Sri Lanka, terrified people were jolted from their beds and homes as warnings rang out that another huge earthquake had struck and could spawn new killer waves.
Buildings on islands off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island buckled as the 8.7 magnitude undersea temblor struck shortly before 23:15 local time, crushing those in the rubble.
Nearest the epicentre, at least 300 people were confirmed dead on the outlying Indonesian island of Nias. Hundreds of houses had collapsed in the island's capital Gumung Sitoli, officials said.
A 3m wave smashed into the island of Simeulue, off the coast of Sumatra, causing extensive damage, a military official said on Tuesday.
The wharf in the island's main port was badly damaged and the waves also affected the island's airport in the coastal town of Sinabang, he said.
In Banda Aceh on Sumatra, one of the cities worst hit by the devastating December 26 tsunamis, there was mass panic.
On foot, in cars and on motorcycles, thousands of residents fled for high ground, ignoring officials' pleas for calm in their race for safety.
"When the earthquake happened, I rode my motorcycle to the airport because I was very afraid the tsunami would hit again," university student Heri said.
In Thailand, where more than 5 000 people died in the December 26 tsunamis, traffic started running bumper-to-bumper as people streamed out of the famed Patong beach on the tourist island of Phuket and thousands gathered on nearby hilltops.
Hundreds of people, with children yanked from their beds and still wearing pyjamas, gathered at the Phuket town hall for hours during the night, sleeping on the lawn and in pickups. But they all started heading home once authorities declared it safe.
The alert was lifted after about two hours and by Tuesday morning tourists had stretched out to sunbathe on Patong beach or were swimming in the clear blue water.
In India, an alert was issued in the Andaman Islands and all along the southern coast.
Radio channels warned people to move away from the ocean in Tamil Nadu state while church bells were used to alert people in parts of Kerala state, reports said.
According to officials, at least 70 000 people were evacuated from Nagapatinam district of southern Tamil Nadu, while in neighbouring Kerala at least 30 000 people were evacuated.
A village nurse in the Akkaraipettai fishing hamlet in Nagapattinam district said people began to panic when they heard about the earthquake on television.
A tsunami alert was lifted at 06:00 local time and residents began returning to their homes.