Indian Ocean witnesses magnitude 4.2 earthquake
What's the story
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake hit the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS). The quake struck at a depth of 90km, with its epicenter located at latitude 5.305N and longitude 93.972E. This seismic event occurred decades after the catastrophic Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami in December 2004 that devastated several coastal communities around the Indian Ocean.
Past catastrophe
Sumatra-Andaman earthquake killed nearly 2.3 lakh people
The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, which had a magnitude of 9.2-9.3, was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. It struck off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, at 07:58:53 local time on December 26, 2004. The quake triggered a massive tsunami with waves reaching up to 30m (100ft), killing an estimated 227,898 people across 14 countries, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Seismic zones
What are deep-focus earthquakes?
Earthquakes can occur anywhere between the Earth's surface and about 700km below. According to United States Geological Survey (USGS) data, this seismic activity is classified into three zones for scientific purposes: shallow (0-70km), intermediate (70-300km), and deep (300-700km). The recent Indian Ocean earthquake falls under the "deep-focus earthquakes" category as it occurred at a depth of 90km.