Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Simeulue, Aceh

Simeulue, Aceh was shaken by a tectonic earthquake of magnitude 5.3 on Sunday (8 March) at 13:05 WIB. The earthquake’s epicenter was located at coordinates 2.03° N, 96.49° E, offshore 50 km southeast of Sinabang, Aceh, at a depth of 29 km. ‘This earthquake was felt in Simeulue with an intensity of III MMI (shaking clearly noticeable inside houses; the tremors felt as if a truck was passing by), in Subulussalam and Aceh Selatan with an intensity II MMI (felt by a few people; hanging objects sway),’ said Rahmat in a written statement. As of this report, there were no reported damages from the quake. ‘Modeling results indicate that this earthquake does not pose a tsunami threat,’ Rahmat said. Meanwhile, as of 13:30 WIB, BMKG monitoring results did not show any aftershocks. Rahmat explained, considering the epicenter location and hypocenter depth, the earthquake was a shallow event caused by subduction of the Indo-Australian plate beneath the Eurasian plate. ‘Source mechanism analysis shows the quake had a thrust fault movement.’