Tsunami alert on the Indonesia quake

A massive earthquake off Indonesia's western coast triggered tsunami fears across the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, sending residents in coastal cities fleeing to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles.

A strong aftershock nearly three hours later sparked a new wave of panic. Indonesia's government responded by issuing a fresh tsunami warning. 

Some residents were crying in Ache, where memories of a 2004 tsunami that killed 170,000 people in the province alone, are still raw. Others screamed "God is great" as they poured from their homes or searched frantically for separated family members.

Indonesia has issued a fresh tsunami warning after an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 shook its western coast.

The first 8.6-magnitude quake off Ache province, hours earlier, spawned a wave around 30 inches (80 centimeters) high but caused no serious damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the strong temblor that followed was centered 10 miles (16 kilometers) beneath the ocean around 380 miles (615 kilometers) from the provincial capital, Banda Ache.

Harjadi, a local official who goes by only one name, said the new tsunami warning was for residents living along the western coast of the country.

It included Sumatra island and the Mentawai islands.

To the Media News correspondent Celia Hatton reports from Beijing that downed phone lines and power outages have made it very difficult for the Indonesian government to get information on possible casualties from the earthquake. In Banda Ache, Ache’s main provincial city, Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said sirens and Koran recitals were heard from mosques around the city.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first 8.6-magnitude quake was centered 20 miles beneath the ocean floor around 269 miles from Ache province.

Japan quake and Tsunami victims memorable 2011

Members in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha observed silence as a mark of respect to those killed in the catastrophe which struck the northern pacific coast of Japan on March 11.

 Parliament today paid homage to thousands of people killed in the devastating earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, observing that it was a “tragedy of incalculable magnitude”.

Japan: With a minute of silence, tolling bells and prayers, Japan will today mark the first anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis that shattered public trust in atomic power and the nation's leaders.

A year after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that hit Japan's northeastern coast, killing nearly 16,000 and leaving nearly 3,300 unaccounted for, the country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs.

Parliament today paid homage to thousands of people

killed in the devastating earthquake and Tsunami in

Japan, observing that it was a “tragedy of incalculable ...

One year after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck northeast Japan, killing nearly 16,000 people and sparking the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the country will pause Sunday to remember the exact moment the earth shook.

At exactly 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. ET), a moment of silence will be held to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude quake -- a tremor so great, it literally shifted the earth's axis.

 Pakistanis rally in memory of Japanese earthquake victims - Islamabad ...

Observances will be held across the country, with a main ceremony at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to attend that event and offer remarks.

Radiation fears across Fukushima and beyond were expected to swell the number of those taking part in the protests.

Setsuko Kuroda, an organiser of a two-day anti-nuclear protest in Koriyama, said 20,000 people were expected on Sunday.

"We demand all children are evacuated from Fukushima now," she told AFP.

"Some experts say one third of children in Fukushima were affected by radiation.

"Leaving the situation like this is like they are committing a murder every day."

A summary of a government meeting held about four hours after a giant earthquake sent a wall of water crashing into the atomic power station showed that one unidentified participant had cautioned of the risk of a meltdown

"On the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, we remember that today we face a challenge of similar proportions."

The Japanese people earned the world's admiration for their composure, discipline and resilience in the face of the disaster while its companies impressed with the speed with which they bounced back, mending torn supply chains.