Indonesian earthquake leaves Twitter shaken, tsunami fears subside

An 8.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the off the coast of the Indonesian island Sumatera in the Indian Ocean. At first details were scant and there was fear that there may be a repeat of the tsunami which devastated the region in 2004. Those fears have, for now, been allayed to some extent. Twitter has, nonetheless gone into overdrive.

At one stage, #PrayforSumatera, US Geological Survey, #Sumatera, Indian Ocean, and Earthquake in Indonesia were all globally trending topics.

As soon as news of the earthquake went out, Tsunami warnings were issued:

#PrayforSumatera “@jakpost: Indonesia issues tsunami warning after 8.9 quake bit.ly/IrMFIE“

— Naimah (@NaimahLutfi) April 11, 2012

RT: @thejakartaglobe: The #tsunami is expected to reach Aceh at 4:31 p.m., according to Japan.bit.ly/HwIXio #prayforsumatera

— Prissillya Djuntak(@prissildjuntak) April 11, 2012

Tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Indian Ocean area after the earthquake. Be with us, God.

— Ǥitta Ƴunanda ✪ (@Gittayunanda) April 11, 2012

Some Twitter users reached out to anyone who was in the earthquake zone:

Aceh, Sumatra, fellow Indonesians along southern coastal areas, please be safe.. #PrayForSumatera

— tita larasati (@LarasaTita) April 11, 2012

Others drew parallels between today’s earthquake and the one which resulted in a tsunami that killed over 200 000 people across the Indian ocean in 2004:

The 2004 quake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami was a bit stronger, closer to shore (100 miles) and same depth: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indi…

— Andrew R.C. Marshall (@Journotopia) April 11, 2012

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami took out the Systems that kept Wastewater from Contaminating Fresh Drinking Water pithocrates.com/2012/04/10/wel…

— PITHOCRATES (@PITHOCRATES) April 11, 2012

RT Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says tsunami warning in effect for whole Indian ocean. List of countries affected: ptwc.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?…

— Ms. Lee (@ilovecilenylee) April 11, 2012

26 December 2004, 250,000 people. I still remember that day. Hope history doesn’t repeat itself. #PrayForSumatera #tsunami Indian Ocean

— ★ Sam Insanity ☆ (@SamInsanity) April 11, 2012

Many felt that there was nothing left for them to do but pray for the people on the shorelines about to be hit by the massive wave:

Tsunami Alert was also issued.. Yaallah please save our people in Sumatera Island! ;’) #PrayForSumatera

— Music Of Afgan (@MusicAfgan) April 11, 2012

#prayforsumatera my deepest prayer goes out to everyone there.

— hocuspocus♥. (@bleergh_) April 11, 2012

Magnitude 8.7 earthquake off Indonesia. Let’s pray for everyone’s safety there! #PrayforACEH #PrayForSumatera @khunnie0624

— Desartika Hamid 하미드 (@desarIreland) April 11, 2012

hey everyone! Please #PrayForSumatera ! there’s also a tsunamiwarning for everycountry across indianocean..

— arren celis (@JDB_Luv_ME) April 11, 2012

Is there really gonna be a tsunami in SG? Will it be like the Japan one? I pray hard, that it won’t. #PrayforSumatera

— wanna be cheyenne.♚ (@KimChiaIsMyStar) April 11, 2012

Some were praying for family members in the affected area:

Either way, #prayforsumatera. My grandma and our successful factory are there.

— kerrin (@Kerrinfernanda) April 11, 2012

RT @Cassiopeia_INA: Cassies let’s pray for our family in Sumatera, Indonesia. We hope that they’ll be okay. #PrayForSumatera

— Ladisa Anindya P. (@dd_nind) April 11, 2012

Let’s pray for our friends and family who live in Sumatera. May God bless them! #PrayForIndonesia #PrayForSumatera

— MYNAME INDONESIA (@mynameIND) April 11, 2012

#prayforsumatera Seriously, i’m panic right now. My family and friends are there right now. Hope they’re okay. Amin

— Anshar Munarfa (@ansharze) April 11, 2012

The prayers came from all people around the world and a variety of religious beliefs.

The quake was reportedly felt as far afield as Indonesia and Southern Thailand. According to the BBC, a spokesperson for the US Geological Survey has come out saying that this quake is less likely to result in a tsunami because it moved horizontally rather than vertically.

Despite this pronouncement, a tsunami warning remained in place, although there was some discrepancy in how big the wave would be:

PTWC update: Small #tsunami up to 0.31m generated as of 0956UTC

— Sudara Madushan (@madushan92) April 11, 2012

“@AJELive: 17 centimetre-tall wave heading for #Aceh as #tsunami warning remains in effect | aje.me/Igq3bO”

— Julian Gan (@tmjulian) April 11, 2012

There are, however, reports of people moving to higher ground after feeling the tremors:

SA man on holiday in Phuket tells EWN that he felt the quake and locals are anxious and heading for higher ground. #Tsunami

— Mandy Wiener (@MandyWiener) April 11, 2012

Fear of #tsunami, Acehnese living in coastal areas ran up hill bit.ly/Ir0PY3 via @korantempo (in Bahasa)

— Sari Setiogi (@setiogi) April 11, 2012

Users also noted that warnings were causing panic in Thailand and Indonesia:

Now now … Reports coming in that water is receding along the coast of Phuket, which is a cause of worry. #earthquake #tsunami

— Arvind Krishna (@Arvindkrsna) April 11, 2012

BREAKING NEWSChaos in the streets after #Indonesia #tsunami warning…

— Talal J Al-Tamimi (@TalalQatar) April 11, 2012

Tourists running out like crazy from kata beach #phuket #tsunami goshhh I never seen this panic before

— Tαnyα™ S. (@tanyasuvadee) April 11, 2012