Paul TostoNews this morning of earthquakes and tsunami warnings near Indonesia and across the Indian Ocean kicked the dread mechanism into high gear.
That’s the part of the world where more than 200,000 people died from a massive tsunami in 2004.
The newest earthquakes triggered panic and a tsunami watch.
This one looks to have a happy ending, though. The BBC just posted:
Two hours after the quakes – one with a magnitude of 8.6, the other measuring 8.3 – the centre says “the threat has diminished or is over for most areas”.
The alerts caused panic as people fled buildings and made for high ground.
There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
According to the BBC, today’s earthquake was ” felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. ‘There was a tremor felt by all of us working in the building,’ a man called Vincent in Calcutta, India, told the BBC. ‘All just ran out of the building and people were asked not to use the elevator. There was a minute of chaos where all started ringing up to their family and asking about their well-being.’ “
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii loves capital letters. But in this instance, we’ll take it:
A SIGNIFICANT TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED BY THIS EARTHQUAKE. HOWEVER…SEA LEVEL READINGS NOW INDICATE THAT THE THREAT HAS DIMINISHED OR IS OVER FOR MOST AREAS. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH ISSUED BY THIS CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED.
— Paul Tosto
UPDATE: Listen to a discussion of the earthquakes and tsunami worries from this morning’s Daily Circuit broadcast.