7.6 magnitude quake hits Indonesia, 75 dead with casualties expected to climb

[NC MacGuy]

A fairly large quake est. 7.6 with many collapsed buildings in Indonesia:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/10/200910101737668790.html

[iBlue]

Crap! I know someone who is in Jakarta right now. I've sent a worried and probably useless email over there hoping she's okay. (though Jakarta is a fair distance away now that I look at a map :o) Still.

[MacMini2009]

Wow, 2 earthquakes in 2 days in Samoa and Indonesia.

[NC MacGuy]

This is getting scary. Another 6.8 in Sumatra:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/01/2701842.htm?section=justin

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8284139.stm

[jessica.]

Born and raised in an earthquake state this is terrible. I feel badly for these victims, worse as I continue to watch the news ticker scroll across the screen with updates.

[jmann]

I just found about this when someone called to ask how much international calls to American Samoa are. :(

[jecapaga]

Sad news for sure. I hope that the far away earthquakes don't set off the San Andreas fault here. I've heard every year of existence to expect the big one that will destroy much.

"In short, earthquakes from nearby as well as thousands of miles away were weakening the fault ever so slightly." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33095268/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/)

[zami]

Very , very sad. Indonesia has had a terrible decade with so many natural disasters coming one after the other.

There is little to be done until strong anti seismic building laws are enforced. If something this strong hit Jakarta the consequences do not bear thinking about. Personally I fear for friends and relatives some of whom live in tower blocks of over 40 storeys.

May God have mercy on the people of Padang and those of Indonesia.

[Nickygoat]

Just got back from Indonesia.

Poor buggers; saw a lot of the wreckage left from some of the previous quakes.