Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Tzu Chi volunteers will fly to an island off the northern Indonesian province of Aceh to help with the effect of a powerful earthquake which struck the area on Wednesday. The volunteers are reacting to a request from the magistrate of Simeulue island, 50 minutes by flight from Aceh, who sought their help. They will go to the affected area and evaluate what they can do.

At 02:38:37 p.m. on April 11, the earthquake with a magnitude of 8.6 struck the coast of Sumatra, according to U.S. Geological Survey. The depth of the quake was 22.9 kilometers and it was classified as a shallow earthquake.

Neighboring countries like India, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia also felt the quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued tsunami warnings to 29 countries in the region and estimated the waves at six meters high. In Thailand, the residents of four provinces along the coast were evacuated.

The epicenter of the earthquake was 434 kilometers southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in northern Sumatra. It caused power shortages in Aceh and residents evacuated to higher ground after the tsunami warning was issued. Fortunately, the tsunami alert was lifted hours after the quake. For the people of Aceh province, it was a frightening experience; they remember the terrible earthquake of December 26, 2004, whose epicenter was between Sumatra and Simeulue island. Indonesia was the country worst affected, with 130,736 confirmed dead, 37,063 missing and 500,000 displaced. Tzu Chi was one of the first NGOs to arrive at the scene of the disaster, provided food and medical care and later built three Great Love villages for those who had lost their homes.