The first major quake of the decade belongs to Indonesia! Appalling start to 2020 continues: Mag 6.2 - Sinabang, Indonesia strikes as torrential rain kills 60 with 200,000 in shelters

USGS

Two countries have had an appalling start to 2020, one, of course, is Australia with its unprecedented bushfires and crippling heatwave, the other is Indonesia.

Indonesia is suffering flooding, among the deadliest in years, causing chaos in parts of Southeast Asia’s biggest city and capital Jakarta. A humanitarian disaster is developing in Indonesia as the death toll from torrential rain rises to 60 with almost 200,000 people taking refuge in shelters. Full story  This morning they suffered the first major quake of 2020 and the new decade.

A powerful shallow magnitude 6.2 struck on Tuesday southwest of Indonesia’s province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra, at a depth of 20.3 km (12.6 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. No tsunami warning has been issued. According to Reuters, People panicked and ran out of buildings, on the island nearest to the epicentre.

At least one aftershock was recorded by the Indonesian geophysics agency. Indonesia, which sits on the seismically active Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, often suffers deadly earthquakes and tsunamis. In September 2018, Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami it unleashed, killing more than 4,000 people.

A month later the Soputan volcano, on Indonesia's Sulawesi island erupted. Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi's Minahasa regency emitted a 4-kilometre column of ash.