Strong earthquake damages dozens of houses on Ambalau Island (Buru Island), Indonesia (also felt on Ambon)
Last update: May 3, 2014 at 2:55 pm by By
Update May 3 : Local newspaper kabartimur reports : In Ulima dozens of homes + the Nur Hamza Mosque (Ambalau Island) were damaged to various extend (some severely). One person got injured by a collapsed wall. Most of the houses in the village are showing cracks in the walls. People spend the night outside out of fear for aftershocks.
Update May 3 : Our first estimate was unfortunately the good one. At least 20 houses were damaged to various extend in the village of Uilima (District Ambalau) a tiny island near Buru Island (Palau Buru). The quakes epicenter (preliminary location of the epicenters has always a serious error margin) was closest to Ambelau Island. The regency has not yet asked for help from the regional BPBD.
Update 09:31 UTC : we decrease our damage estimate based on the reports of local BMKG who is predicting a max. weak shaking at Ambon vs a light shaking as predicted by USGS
Update 09:19 UTC : The theoretical injuries/fatalities engine from Max Wyss expects neither injuries nor fatalities as a result of this earthquake. ER maintains his slight damage expectation
Update 09:11 UTC : The below data are showing a max. shaking of MMI V (and not MMI III as said earlier) = Moderate shaking may have been felt by 21000 people
Update 09:07 UTC : The picture below is the Geofon seismogram at the Indonesia station of Bandaneira (Banda Sea area)
Update 09:05 UTC : USGS reports a Magnitude of Mw6.0 at a depth of 54 km. Max. expected shaking MMI III (weak shaking).
Update : the earthquake occurred at intermediate depth of 45 km. We maintain however our moderately dangerous outlook precisely because of the depth. The epicenter is located in the sea in between both islands, but the intermediate depth will bring the shaking in a wider area and thus also on the islands.
572 km N of Dili, East Timor / pop: 150,000 / local time: 17:43:37.0 2014-05-02
75 km W of Ambon, Indonesia / pop: 355,596 / local time: 17:43:37.0 2014-05-02
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.8
Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown
GMT/UTC Time : 2014-05-02 08:43:34
from: http://earthquake-report.com/2014/05/02/strong-earthquake-seram-indonesia-on-may-2-2014/