Tsunami News

APRIL 2005   

Underwater volcanic activity off Nicobar islands

from The Daily Telegrams, Port Blair
http://www.and.nic.in/thursday.htm

27 April 2005

Flashing lights of a blaze with blasting sounds have been reported on the sea by a vessel of the Directorate of Shipping Services, MV Pilopanja, which was anchored 0.2 nautical miles off Kapanga Jetty at Katchal island.

The vessel sighted the blaze on the sea on the night of 20th April 2005.

According to the Captain of the vessel, P. Viswanathan, explosions was witnessed intermittently toward Katchal Island from the vessel. He said, the blaze, along with booming sounds, appeared to be like volcanic explosion, was visible in the night only but a trail of smoke could be seen during daytime. No smoke or fire was visible early in the morning or in the evening, perhaps due to sunrise.

Cause for worry?
Several new aftershocks and increasing volcanic activity in Indonesia

from JOHN SEACH, Volcano News

17 April 2005

 Tangkubanparahu volcano (6.77 S, 107.60 E in western Java, Indonesia) remains at level 3 alert (4 is the highest). The volcano normally has about 1000 tourists per day. Since an increase in seismic activity under the volcano 13 April 2005, there has been evacuation of at least 600 vendors selling souvenirs, food and drinks for the tourists.

Three tectonic earthquakes were felt in the area on today, 17 April 2005. Bandung volcanology office recorded the first tremor, measuring 5 on the Richter scale at 9:06 a.m. with its epicenter located some 33 kilometers south of Bandung city.

At 10:46 a.m., a second large earthquake, measuring 6 on the Richter scale, again shook the city with its epicenter some 70 kilometers south of Sukabumi city in West Java. The epicenter was 70 kilometers beneath the Indian Ocean. The third earthquake that hit the city measured 5.6 on the Richter scale at 11:17 a.m, with its epicenter in the Sunda Strait where Anak Krakatau continues to shows signs of restlessness. The third earthquake was also felt in Jakarta.

Of the three earthquakes, the first resulted in the most damage as its epicenter was only five kilometers beneath the Gunung Halu district in Bandung regency, 30 kilometers south of Bandung city. More than 170 houses and school buildings in the area were damaged.

The earthquakes were not only felt in Bandung city, which is preparing for the Asian-African Summit next week, but were also felt in other outlying cities such as Cimahi, Garut, Tasikmalaya and Pangandaran beach in Ciamis regency.

The earthquakes were tectonic in origin, and were not caused by volcanic activity. However, tectonic activity can disturb volcanoes. The last activity at Tangkuban Parahu was in 2002 when ash plumes rose 2.5 km above the volcano. Other eruptions of Tangkubanparahu Volcano took place 2002, 1985, 1983, 1969, 1967, 1965, 1965, 1961, 1957, 1952, 1929, 1926, 1910,1896, 1846, 1842, 1829, and 1826.

The lost world of the Nicobarese

by DENIS GILES

17 April 2005

Thousands of tribal people died when the tsunami struck the Nicobar Islands last December. There remains no trace of their villages that once stood guarding the shoreline in the Bay of Bengal.

The surviving families cannot gather the courage to have a glimpse of the place where they had their homes. They have moved to relief camps in the higher lands, far, far away from the sea, where they never preferred to live. The heat is unbearable up there, as are the flies in the daylight and mosquitoes during the night.

Since they lost their coconut trees, canoes and pigs in the tsunami and, most important, their sets of tools, their lives have become miserable. The relief aid they are getting is not only proving to be useless, but it actually may threaten their way of life.

The first thing the Nicobarese need is tools, so they can begin to construct huts, dig canoes and make plantations. A set of tools is the most essential belonging of a Nicobari or, for that matter, for any indigenous community. But more than three months after the tsunami, they have received only 150 sets of tools for 2,000 surviving families, and these are of such poor quality that the tribals cannot use them.

Among the relief materials distributed in the Nicobars were "dhothi" for men and "sarees" for women (typical Indian dress made of one piece of cloth that drapes over the torso and legs). The Nicobarese haven't worn anything like this ever before and do not wish to. The men normally go bare-chested, and the women wear a blouse and a colorful, printed wraparound to cover below their waist. To the surprise of all the relief agencies, the Nicobarese have used these cloths to stitch mosquito nets.

The Indian government is constructing temporary shelters for the homeless tribals, who still are living in tents. It was announced that "seismic experts" in New Delhi have approved the shelters. Each has two rooms, a kitchen and an attached toilet. The roof and walls are made of galvanized iron sheets imported from India. But while government engineers measured the site for construction of the expert-approved houses in the open highlands, the Nicobarese were seen constructing their traditional huts inside the jungle, where it is shady, using the last of tools that survived the tsunami.

When I asked a Nicobari why he was busy constructing his hut, he replied, "Who would live in such houses? Let them construct it and do their duty, and we will do ours. Where shall we keep our pigs?"

The Nicobarese never live in closed houses with partitions. They prefer an open area to attend to nature's call rather than in a closed flush-out toilet. They have their huts on stilts, which not only are earthquake-resistant but also give them space to house their livestock.

All the while, in Port Blair, the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar island chain, hundreds of tribal members from Car Nicobar, evacuated after the tsunami, have a merry time. They are spending most of their relief money on booze. Bars and wine shops in Port Blair are flooded with Nicobarese. Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor, IMFL as it is called, is scarce in their land, which India's government has declared a tribal reserve. They are fascinated by city life, and after such a long stay in the city, their eagerness to return to their land seems to be declining. Some are even looking for land in Port Blair so they can stay on.

To the list of all of the terrible damage done to the Nicobarese people in the tsunami, we can add this: On one hand, the tribals have been lost in a new world of the city dwellers, while on the other hand those who were lucky enough to stay back in their own land are at a loss to understand what is going on there.

The involvement of government and nongovernmental agencies cannot be avoided during natural calamities such as the tsunami. But did anyone consider what the tribals really need?

Are the Volcanoes waking up? the World Disaster Alliance warns

from JEFFREY L . NOVAK
jnovak@disasteralliance.org
Vice President Operations and Programs
World Disaster Alliance

14 Apr 2005

The World Disaster Alliance is posting this information as a service to the general public. Based on our research, we find an alarming increase in the frequency, intensity and location of earthquake events in Indoenesia that has a direct correlation to the current volcanic events.

We are "cautiously concerned" that, as stated in a previous bulleting, the great quakes of December and March may have ignited subsurface activity that could have a "domino" affect on volcanos in the region.

Dr. M. David Hansen, the WDA President and CEO stated, "It may also signal, much like a watermelon breaking open, a splitting surface that might precipitate both heavy volcanic and earthquake activity. Although a remote possibility, we should still continue to monitor all."

In the past 30 days there were 354 earthquakes of 4.0 or greater in the Indonesain area. This pressure is sure to have an impact on other geophysical concerns in the marginal and outlying areas.

This line of volcanoes is directly parallel to the "ring of fire" earthquake fault that was the scene of those great quakes.

The third volcano that is registering activity as indicated in bulletin 4 is Krakatoa.

The WDA will continue to aggressively monitor this event.

See also on this web-site "Earthquake and Tsunami", section 6 What Next?

Quakes heading South: a second major aftershock

Received from United States Geological Survey,
www.usgs.gov

10 Apr 2005

10 April 2005 at 10:29:13 local Sumatra time (UTC).

Magnitude 6.8

Depth 30 km (18.6 miles)

Epicenter off southwestern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia 39°S, 99.551°E, off the southeastern eastern tip of Siberut island (the largest of the Mentawai group of islands).
115 km (75 miles) SW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
320 km (200 miles) SW of Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia
580 km (360 miles) SSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
945 km (580 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Tremors were felt in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

No tsunami has been triggered by this quake and no casualties have been reported.

Port Blair rocks again - to Shaan's tunes

received from from SAMHITA ACHARYA
Port Blair, samhita@tarangtrades.com
Photographs of the event available on request

3rd April 2005

The evening of 3rd of April saw one of the largest gatherings of people at the Netaji Stadium for the "Call for Solidarity" concert which was organized by the Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology, with support from Oxfam India Trust and the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism, A & N Islands. The event was an attempt to bring together like minded people who share similar concerns about the disaster and its victims, apart from promoting psychological recovery for the tsunami victims. However the primary objective of the event was to revive the culture of the aboriginal tribes of the Nicobar group of islands. An attempt to bring forth the rich music and culture of the tribes of Nicobar so that people elsewhere in the world get acquainted to their vivid music and ethnicity.

Formerly, the event was to be inaugurated by the Hon'ble Lt. Governor of our Islands. This was summarily changed due to the demise of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and since the nation is in three day mourning, the A & N Administration had to back out from the event.

The concert began with a two minute silence as a mark of veneration to the Pope. The first performance, by Samhita Acharya, was a song that was written specially for the tsunami victims by famous lyricist Nilesh Misra. This was followed by an interface with noted actor and social worker Rahul Bose, who has been on the Islands four times after tsunami and has been actively involved in the relief and rehabilitation work here. An interesting dance performance of the Nicobari group from the Central Nicobars followed which also included their traditional stick dance. The interface with Shabana Azmi brought out her views about the tsunami and the empowerment of women in today's society. Javed Akhtar came forward with an interesting piece of information that his bond with the islands dates back to great great great grandfather who was a freedom fighter was sentenced to these islands and has his grave right in the islands.

The event went along with dance performances by the physically challenged children, with support from the West Bengal Voluntary Health Association. Dance and song performances by the local artists kept the crowd entertained. Rasheed Yusuf of Kamorta made a small presentation on the diversity of the Nicobari tribes and also the destruction caused by the tsunami. He appealed for support to his tribesmen in getting over the loss.

The last leg of the event seemed to be what the crowd had been waiting for. An overwhelmed Shaan put forward a wonderful performance and entertained the people with his melodious songs and lively dance. His exuberance lighted up the whole crowd.

The event which aimed to celebrate the true spirit of the people of the islands, who have bounced back to life after the disaster left the islands torn, was a successful one.

Forest Encroachers in Andaman and Nicobars -
questions and answer in Parliament

Supplied by crbijoy@rediffmail.com via andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in

3 April 2005

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

LOK SABHA (Indian Parliament) 

Unstarred question no. 2977

to be answered 20.12.2004
2977. SMT. KARUNA SHUKLA

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS be pleased to state:-

(a) the details of funds sanctioned to the Andaman and Nicobar Administration by the Union Government as a package to the Post-1978 forest encroachers indicating the date and year of its sanction;

(b) whether the said amount has been disbursed by the administration to the encroachers;

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) the present status of those 4000 encroacher families and their means of livelihood?

Answer

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)

(a) In order to rehabilitate the families identified to be evicted from the forest lands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in pursuance of the order of the Hon`ble Supreme Court of India, the Union Government decided to extend to them, in addition to allotment of alternative land subject to its availability, the following facilities:-

(i) one time financial assistance of Rs. 75,000 per family to enable the encroachers to shift to the new sites,

(ii) supply of ration at the rate of 12 kg. per head per month over a period of six months,

(iii) employment of one person from each family consisting of a maximum of five members and of two persons from each family consisting of more than five members for a maximum period of two years at the rate admissible to a Daily Rated Mazdoor (DRM), and

(iv) payment of hostel fee at the rate of Rs. 400 per month per head for two school going children per family.

Formal sanction of expenditure for supply of ration for an amount of Rs. 0.94 crore was issued vide letter dated 07.03.2003 of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This was subsequently augmented to Rs. 2.02 crore on 10.10.2003. Besides this, financial sanction of Rs. 48.84 crore for incurring expenditure on other items of the rehabilitation package was issued on 13.05.2003.

(b) and (c) While steps were being taken by the Andaman and Nicobar Administration to implement the rehabilitation package, the Local Borns` Association and Others filed a Special Leave Petition before the Hon`ble Supreme Court of India challenging the said rehabilitation package. The Hon`ble Court has stayed the implementation of the rehabilitation package, and therefore, the package has not been implemented so far.

(d) The encroacher families are still staying in the forest area in absence of any alternate arrangement for their stay in the revenue area. They are surviving by alternate livelihood measures, such as, fishing, agriculture and agriculture labour. 

 

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