Simeulue Regency

[
epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake indicated between the two.] Simeulue Regency is a regency in the Aceh province of Indonesia. It occupies a whole island of Simeuleu, 150 km of the west coast of Sumatra.

With its isolated geographic location, it is not affected by the turmoil of conflicts in mainland Aceh between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM). There is no activity of the GAM on these islands.

Administration

Simeulue was once a part of West Aceh Regency but broke away in 2000 with the hope that the region's development would improve. The seat of the regency is Sinabang.

The regency is divided into 8 subdistricts ("kecamatan"). [ [http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/sumatra/mapcentre/docs/13_Education%5CSUM13-025_Simeulue_School_Location_UNIMS_2005-12-13_A4.pdf UNOPS School Project Location For Simeulue District 2005] ]

Demographics

Its people are similar to the people in the neighboring Nias Island, with a language that differs from mainland Aceh. Most of people of Simeulue are Muslim.

Flora and fauna

The regency is known for its cloves. One of its signature mainstays is the Simeulue buffalo, a small animal whose meat is sweeter than the mainland buffalo. The buffalo is often sold outside Simeulue Island and has a high price for its prime quality.In the island's center, much of the original prime rainforest has been felled to give way to palm oil plantations.

Earthquakes

Simeulue was close to the epicenter of the 9.3 magnitude 26 December 2004 earthquake, but loss of life was surprisingly low, mainly because the people are familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis in this seismically active region and so knew to leave the coast after the earthquake. Local folklore has it that a huge earthquake and tsunami hit Simeulue in 1907, killing many of its inhabitants. Many died when people rushed to the beach when they saw the water recede, exposing the coral and fish. They went to collect the fish not realizing that the water would come back with a vengeance. Those who survived told the story of the 1907 "semong", the local word for tsunami, to their children. It is largely because of this oral history that many in Simeulue say that they instinctively knew what to do when the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami struck. In the fishing village of Kariya Vhapi on the NW shore of Simuelue, the 26 December 2004 tsunami was approximately 2 m high when it went through the village completely destroying all buildings. [http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/news/reportsleg1.html "USGS Scientists in Sumatra Studying Recent Tsunamis" Western Coastal and Marine Geology (WCMG) report, United States Geological Survey, 12 April 2005] ]

On 28 March 2005 a 8.7 magnitude stuck with its epicenter just off the south end of Simeulue Island. [ [http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2005/04/index.html Gibbons, Helen (April 2005) "Second Tsunami Causes Damage in Indonesia—USGS Scientists Post Observations on the World Wide Web" United States Geological Survey] ] During the earthquake, Simeulue rose at least 6 feet on the western coast leaving the flat top of its coral reefs above high tide level and dry and dead. On the east coast, the land was submerged, seawater flooding fields and settlements. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6435979.stm Saved by tsunami folklore] , "BBC News" From Our Correspondent, 10 March 2007] At the village of Kariya Vhapi the 28 March 2005 tsunami was smaller than the one the previous December and did not damage the village; however it did overtop a 3.2 m high beach berm. In Sinabang the 28 March 2005 earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed 50 to 60 percent of the downtown area and significantly damaged the port facility. At Sinabang the uplift was less than further north being "only" 40 cm.

On 20 February 2008 at 03:08 PM local time, Simeulue suffered a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. [ [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nran.php "Magnitude 7.5 - Simeulue, Indonesia" United States Geological Survey, 20 February 2008] ]

References