Massive Coral Death Caused By Earthquake

An international group of scientists has reported what’s believed to be the world’s largest death of corals off the coast of Indonesia.

The scientists said the massive coral death is attributed to a March 2005 earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia, that shook nearly 190 miles of sea floor, raising it more than three feet.

Scientists from the New York-headquartered Wildlife Conservation Society, the WCS’s Indonesian Marine Program, and the Australian Research Council investigated the condition of coral reefs in Pulau Simeulue and Pulau Banyak off Aceh.

The surveys covered 35 sites along 372 miles of coastline, documenting, for the first time, the effects of earthquake uplift on coral reefs.

The scientists determined the entire island of Simeulue, with a perimeter of approximately 186 miles, was raised 3.9 feet following the March 28, 2005, earthquake, exposing most of the coral reefs which ringed the island.

Andrew Baird of the Australian Research Council said: “This is a unique opportunity to document a process that occurs maybe once a century. … Amazingly, the uplifted corals are so well preserved we could still identify each species, despite these colonies having been exposed for two years.