March 2, 2016 Tsunami: SW. Sumatra, Indonesia

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Indonesia, killing an unconfirmed number of people. The country has issued a tsunami warning, the National Meteorological Agency reported. The shallow quake led to multiple deaths, according to Indonesia's search and rescue agency. "There are some who have died," said Heronimus Guru, the agency's deputy head of operations, as quoted by Reuters. He declined to provide further information. The shallow quake, which hit southwest of the island of Sumatra on Wednesday, had a depth of 24 kilometers (15 miles). The epicenter was located 808 kilometers (502 miles) southwest of Padang. The USGS originally categorized the quake as a magnitude 8.2, and later an 8.1 and a 7.9, before lowering it to a 7.8. Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning for West Sumatra, North Sumatra, and Aceh, according to the National Meteorological Agency. A tsunami watch was also issued for parts of Australia's western coast, but has since been canceled. (reference #11481)

Maximum wave amplitude of 0.208 m was at Telukdalam, Indonesia. (reference #11482)

The Wharton Basin, off southwest Sumatra, ruptured to a large intraplate left-lateral strikeslip Mw 7.8 earthquake on 2016 March 2. The epicentre was located ∼800 km to the south of another similar-mechanism intraplate Mw 8.6 earthquake in the same basin on 2012 April 11. Small tsunamis from these strike-slip earthquakes were registered with maximum amplitudes of 0.5−1.5 cm on DARTs and 1−19 cm on tide gauges for the 2016 event, and the respective values of 0.5−6 and 6−40 cm for the 2012 event. (reference #11923)