Antara News, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 22:30 WIB
Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA Bews) - Indonesian and Japanese tsunami experts have concluded that the tsunami that hit the Mentawai Islands recently had moved at a speed of 800 km per hour at sea.
"Based on the results of research conducted by tsunami experts from LIPI, Tokyo University and Hokkaido University, the tsunami at Maonai, Sabeuguggung, Purorougat, North Pagai, had moved at a speed of 800 kilometers per hour at sea and at 30-40 kilometers per hour after land fall ," an earthquake specialist of LIPI`s geotechnology division, , Eko Yulianto, said here Wednesday.
The tsunami surged over a distance of 100-250 meters inland , depending on the height of the tidal wave, he said.
"The height of the tidal wave that hit North Pagai was around six to seven meters," he said.
The tsunami in North Pagai occurred seven minutes after a magnitude- 7.2 earthquake had rocked the region on October 25, he said.
The epicenter of the earthquake lay close to the Mentawai Islands, he said.
Therefore, the information given to the local people that the tsunami would occur 30 minutes after the quake was incorrect, he said.
Eko advised anyone not to wait for an instruction from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) about what to do when an earthquake with the potential to cause tsunami happened. It was also unnecessary to measure the magnitude of the earthquake when an emergency situation occurred, he said.
"It is better for us to evacuate to the hills," he said.
The earthquake that shook the Mentawai Islands was recorded to measure 7.2 on the Richter Scale and triggered a tsunami on Monday (Oct 25) at 09.42 p.m. local time.
The epicenter of the earthquake lay at 3.61 degrees Southern Latitude and 99.93 degrees Eastern Longitude at a depth of 10 kilometers below sea level.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located 78 kilometers southwest of South Pagai, Mentawai, West Sumatra, 102 kilometers southwest of North Pagai, Mentawai, West Sumatra, 158 kilometers Southeast of Sipora, Mentawai, West Sumatra, 174 kilometers Southwest of Mukomuko, Bengkulu, and 817 kilometers Northwest the Jakarta Bay.
