Have we cried out to God concerning this impending disaster? Can we do something for the people of Padang by asking God to be their God and that they would have Jesus with them as they confront this?
The Straits Times, Oct 1 2009 - Geologists have long said Padang may one day be destroyed by a huge earthquake. Since 2005, it has been hit by more than five major earthquakes measuring 6.5 or higher on the Richter scale.
Geologist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Science Institute told The Straits Times that a stronger quake could be devastating for Padang.
“We are very worried...that the accumulated energy in one quake of magnitude 8.9, for example, could see a tsunami reaching 7m high hitting the coast.”
Such a tsunami would affect more than a million people living along the coastline.
He added that the decade-long sequence of quakes meant government officials were making adjustments to infrastructure and educating the people in preparation for the inevitable stronger earthquake and tsunami.
Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency technical chief Suharjono said that up to 6,000 quakes of a magnitude over 4.5 hit Indonesia every year.
However, researchers are unable to pinpoint exactly when the “big one” will occur.
Said senior seismologist D. Srinageswar of India’s National Geophysical Research Institute: “Prediction of a quake in time is not possible. The process will need data going back hundreds or even thousands of years.”
Padang had been hit by tsunamis measuring between 8.5-9M in 1797 and 1833 (see details here).
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