6.3 QUAKE JOLTS SIMEULUE ISLAND

2005/06/08 06:28 M 6.3 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA Z= 28km 2.18N 96.69E

This information is provided by the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center.
These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake IN SIMEULUE, INDONESIA has occurred at:
2.18N 96.69E Depth 28km Wed Jun 8 06:28:12 2005 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Wed Jun 8 06:28:12 2005
Time Near Epicenter Wed Jun 8 13:28:12 2005

6.3 would destroy most cities in the world if they were anywhere near the epicenter.
This raises something that has been distressing me since our mission to Nias and Simeulue.

The responsible thing to do at this point is for the RI govt to ban all building using insitu concrete..... until further notice.... like for the next 50 years or so.

Concrete and masonry structures take between 2 weeks and a month to reach full strength and a shake of this magnitude during the cure time will destroy their structural integrity completely. The truly dangerous thing about this kind of pre-cure damage is that it is rarely visible.

Many of the new buildings that we have seen on paper would probably collapse if they were near one of these huge "aftershocks".

Precast structures or frame structures are the only way to go.... preferably using a renewable local resource like giant bamboo as much as possible.

At a meeting with the Minister for Forestry on Sunday we discussed Nias and Aceh. The Minister and his staff are totally supportive of bamboo planting in Nias and totally against the use of masonry. Their team noticed the poor understanding of concrete structures and the universal weakness of concrete mixes due to skimping on imported and expensive cement. What is needed now is new technology.... or maybe some very old proven technology. More on this as it develops.......we are working on it.