Below is a compilation of media coverage of the Sumatra Earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that resulted in a tsunami, west of South Pagai:

Sumatra quake is aftershock

The Straits Times online, 27 Oct 2010

The earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that took place west of South Pagai, a small island off the west coast of Sumatra on Monday, was a large aftershock of the Sept 12, 2007 Sumatran earthquake of magnitude 8.4.  This is according to a statement by scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore, an autonomous institute of the Nanyang Technological University, and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI).  Based on an analysis by the United States Geological Survey, the aftershock was caused by rupture of a small patch of the Sunda megathrust, next to a bigger undersea fault line running parallel to Sumatra.  Scientists say it is due to produce a more severe quake than the one experienced on Monday within the next few decades.

 

No warning because tsunami alert system had been vandalised

TODAY, 28 Oct 2010, page 3 and online (off Associated Press)

Planes and helicopters packed with rescue workers and supplies landed yesterday on remote Mentawai islands that were pounded by a 3m tsunami, as a news report said Indonesia's tsunami warning system had been vandalised and so failed to warn the islanders.  Scientists from NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said Monday's quake was a large aftershock of an 8.4-magnitude quake that hit Sumatra on 12 Sep 07. The scientists believe that based on patterns of large earthquakes over the past seven centuries, the current sequence of earthquakes will eventually culminate in a much larger quake, approaching the size of the one that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Similar reports in China.com and Guangming Daily.

 

Scientists: Indonesian earthquake was 3 years ago, the massive earthquake aftershock

China News, off Xinhua, 28 Oct 2010

Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao reported that Earth Observatory of Singapore geologists said the magnitude 7.7 earthquake on 25 Oct at the west coast of Sumatra, was a large aftershock of the Sumatran earthquake in 2007. It is unclear if this will lead up to the rupture of the remaining large patch of the Sunda megathrust. Several sections of the megathrust have ruptured sequentially over the past decade, causing a series of earthquakes along the western coast of Sumatra. Based on patterns of large earthquakes over the past seven centuries, scientists believe the current sequence of earthquakes will eventually culminate in a much larger quake, approaching the size of the one that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Unfortunately, the scientists are not able to pin point when it will occur. EOS and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) will continuously monitor tectonic movement along the west Sumatran coast and the Mentawai islands offshore over the next few months.

 

In Wake of Killer Wave, Indonesian Government Mulls Plans To Relocate Islanders

Antara News, 29 Oct 2010

Indonesia's coordinating minister for people’s welfare, Agung Laksono, said that the state was considering relocating people living on small Sumatran islands to places where they would be safe from tsunamis. Last year, Prof Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, predicted that a colossal earthquake would hit Sumatra within 30 years, triggering a tsunami. He said it would make the 8.2-magnitude quake in West Sumatra — which claimed over 1,000 lives in September last year — look tiny by comparison. Based on earthquake trends from the geological analysis of coral specimens in the region, the September 2009 quake was just a precursor, Sieh said.

Similar report in Jakarta Globe.

 

The big one is closer but it's not here yet: scientists

Sydney Morning Herald Online, 29 Oct 2010

The earthquake that generated the tsunami off Indonesia's Mentawai Islands on Monday was not the much-feared big one and might indeed bring it closer, seismologists say. Monday's quake measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, producing a tsunami that was reportedly as high as six metres when it hit some islands, killing 343 people and leaving 338 missing and 4000 without homes. Using information from its network of GPS instruments, scientists from NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and the Indonesian Institute of Science said the quake was actually a large aftershock from an 8.5 magnitude quake in 2007 that occurred 130 kilometres south-west of Bengkulu, a city on Sumatra's southern coast. The Earth Observatory said it is likely that the aftershock was caused by rupture of a small patch of the Sunda megathrust, next to a bigger undersea fault line running parallel to Sumatra.

Similar report in Brisbane Times, The Age and Latrobe Valley Express.

 

Why a German Tsunami Warning System Couldn't Help

Spiegel Online, International, 29 Oct 2010

Following Monday's tsunami in Indonesia, a dispute has broken out over the local tsunami warning system that was designed largely by German engineers. But the criticism of the equipment may be unjustified. It appears, instead, that local officials failed to act -- at least according to documents from Indonesian authorities obtained by Spiegel Online.  Seismologists are also warning about further tsunamis. Studies by seismologist Kerry Sieh at NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and his colleagues show that the earthquakes off Sumatra have a domino effect. One earthquake triggers the next. Sieh said an earthquake stronger than Monday's is likely soon. The scientists believe the area near Siberut island near Sumatra is threatened with an earthquake with a strength of 8.8, which could in turn trigger massive tsunamis.

 

Govt told to fix tsunami warning

The Jakarta Post online, 30 Oct 2010

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) quake expert Danny Hilman Natawidjaya said the government should ensure earthquake and tsunami early warning systems are in good working order and mitigation plans are easily accessible given imminent disaster threats along Sumatra’s western coastal areas. LIPI has worked together with the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University to install the Sumatran GPS Array (SuGAR) network along the coast of West Sumatra, one of the most quake-prone areas in Indonesia.

The Great Beyond: Sumatra earthquake and tsunami could herald bigger quake

Brisbane Times: The big one is closer but it's not here yet: scientists

The New York Times blog: Quake was both aftershock and foretaste

The Age: In wake of quake, Indonesia braces for 'the big one'

Earthweek - A Diary of the Planet: Hundreds Dead After Sumatra Quake and Tsunami

Lianhe Zaobao, 27 Oct 2010, page 2

NTU Geologist: 25 Oct Sumatra Earthquake is Aftershock of the 2007 Earthquake
 
According to the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) at NTU, the magnitude 7.7 earthquake on 25 Oct at the west coast of Sumatra, was a large aftershock of the Sumatran earthquake in 2007. It is unclear if this will lead up to the rupture of the remaining large patch of the Sunda megathrust. Several sections of the megathrust have ruptured sequentially over the past decade, causing a series of earthquakes along the western coast of Sumatra. Based on patterns of large earthquakes over the past seven centuries, scientists believe the current sequence of earthquakes will eventually culminate in a much larger quake, approaching the size of the one that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Unfortunately, the scientists are not able to pin point when it will occur. EOS and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) will continuously monitor tectonic movement along the west Sumatran coast and the Mentawai islands offshore over the next few months.
 
Mentawai quake an aftershock from 2007 earthquake
Antara News, 27 Oct 2010
 
Geological experts said the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that occurred in Mentawai on Monday (25 Oct) was a large aftershock of the magnitude 8.4 Sumatran earthquake in 2007.  Prof Kerry Sieh, EOS Director commented that over the next few months, his team will be analyzing the data from the network of instruments at the Sumatran GPS Array to gain a better understanding of the earthquake.  According to LIPI earthquake geologist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, the earthquake was clearly part of an ongoing healing process following the September 2007 magnitude 8.4. But he has yet to ascertain whether it is part of a wounding process that will lead up to the rupture of the remaining large patch of the Sunda megathrust farther north. 
 
Similar reports in Bisnis Indonesia, Harian SIB, Kompas.com.