Massive 7.8 Magnitude EarthQuake Papua, Indonesia

Breaking now: a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck the North coast of Paua, Indonesia. A local Tsunami warning issued.

EQ 7.8 Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Indonesia – PRELIMINARY REPORT

An earthquake with magnitude 7.8 occurred near Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Indonesia at 19:43:59.00 UTC on Jan 3, 2009. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Update 2333 UTC (GMT) the USGS has reported a another earthquake 7.5 Magnitude hits Indonesia.

Mag

7.5     2009/01/03 22:33:43     -0.714     133.245     45.4     PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.0     2009/01/03 22:23:48     -0.510     132.214     35.0     PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.2     2009/01/03 22:07:48     -0.319     132.869     35.0     PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.6     2009/01/03 21:49:32     -0.363     132.834     35.0     PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.1     2009/01/03 21:30:48     -0.563     133.124     64.6     PAPUA, INDONESIA
4.8     2009/01/03 20:47:35     -0.282     132.880     35.0     PAPUA, INDONESIA
4.8     2009/01/03 20:20:37     -8.148     119.706     171.3    FLOREs, INDONESIA
7.6     2009/01/03 19:43:55     -0.510     132.783     35.0     PAPUA, INDONESIA

(Source; USGS)

Update 16:54 ET – Tsunami warning has been lifted.

Tweets are showing earthquake felt from Delhi, India, Islamabad and surroundings areas.

DjFlush: #Earthquake shakes felt in Islamabad by me while watching ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’
AltafSayani: RT: @DjFlush: I just felt huge Earthquake shakes here in Islamabad.
imranhussain: minor earthquake tremor in lahore
DjFlush: #Earthquake made me literally jump out of my chair.
baldie: felt an earthquake here in Delhi. Hope I’m not hallucinating!
wnwek: A minor earthquake in Delhi. Scared the **** out of me.
tajdaroc: Mild earthquake here in Lahore just now. Waiting for the news to see if it registered in any way at all. Felt like quite a jolt.
aamir7: earthquake in Islamabad, long and strong one

Update 15:51 ET- MSM begining to report –

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 has rocked eastern Indonesia, meteorologists say.

The tremor struck south-west of Manokwari, West Papua, at 0443 on Sunday (1943 GMT), the US Geological Survey said.

A tsunami alert has been issued by the local geophysics agency.

The Indonesian archipelago straddles several continental plates where seismic and volcanic activity is recorded on an almost daily basis.

Update 15:45 ET- Strong quake hits off Indonesia’s West Papua province: seismologists

JAKARTA (AFP) — A 7.2-magnitude quake struck at sea to the northwest of Manokwari in Indonesia’s West Papua province early Sunday, the geophysics agency said in a text message alert, warning also of a tsunami.

The tremor, which hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), struck at 4:43 am (1943 GMT Saturday), about 135 kilometres from Manokwari, Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

Update 15:41 ET-

Authorities and witnesses say a strong earthquake in eastern Indonesia has sent panicked residents running outside.

The country’s meteorology and seismology agency warned that with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 it was strong enough to cause a tsunami. There were no immediate reports of giant waves.

It struck at 2:43 p.m. EST, around 85 miles off of Manokwari, Irian Jaya, at a depth of about 6 miles.

UPDATE 15:15 ET- The AP is now reporting that: USCG says strong earthquake in eastern Indonesia may have triggered tsunami.

Update- The Badan Meteorologi Dan Geofisika has issued a local tsunami warning following a major earthquake which struck off the coast.

First Report: MASSIVE 7.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEAR THE NORTH COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA – TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER. (BULLETIN)

Earthquake Details