2009 Andaman slands earthquake

The 2009 Andaman slands earthquake was an earthquake that occurred on August 11, 2009,
at 01:25 am local time in the Andaman slands of ndia.

The earthquake magnitude was
recorded as 7.5 M
w
, and was the strongest earthquake in the region since the 2004 earthquake.

The epicenter was 260 km north of Port Blair, and tremors were felt in south-east ndia,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami
watch to ndia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, ndonesia and Thailand, but it was later lifted.

No
casualties or injuries were reported, although there were complaints about minor damages to
building.

At about the same time as this earthquake, there was an earthquake of magnitude
6.5 M
w
in Japan.

Location 14.013N, 92.923E
Depth 33.1 km (20.6 miles)
Distances 260 km (160 miles) N of Port Blair, Andaman slands, ndia

The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest with mangroves on the coast. Most of
the forests are evergreen but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, Middle
Andaman, Baratang and parts of South Andaman sland. The rainforests of the islands are
similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma and are largely unspoilt despite
logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the ndian
mainland. There are protected areas on Little Andaman, Narcondam, North Andaman and
South Andaman but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife
rather than the rainforests.

Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs,
cats and the elephants of nterview sland and North Andaman.
"The research results presented in these papers are major steps forward in our
understanding of how great earthquakes happen," said David Simpson, president of
RS. "With 40 authors from seven countries, the papers are wonderful examples of
international scientific collaboration. These results were possible only with the open
sharing of data from multi-national sensor networks, and close collaboration among
seismologists worldwide."
The two earthquakes are the largest since the global deployment of highly sensitive
digital broadband seismometers. These instruments, deployed around the world by RS
and other organizations, recorded both the huge ground motions from the mainshocks
and the tiny motions from small aftershocks and free oscillations of the planet.