In Reply to: Earthquakes Tsunamis, Eruptions? posted by bill4bali on Thursday, 3. March 2016 at 12:00 Bali Time:
...reuters is reporting little damage or disruption to life around Padang (sumatra) where I believe most affects of the quake were felt, and I've not heard of anyone going to Sumatra out of fear for their families.
I'm no volcanologist....
Indonesia sits almost astride a fault line where the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet resulting in frequent earthquakes as the two plates slide against each other. This also gives rise to a lot of volcanic activity in the region and if you look at a map, you'll see volcanoes dotted around the world almost along these fault lines.
Seismic activity and its prediction is very difficult and as a consequence you pretty much don't know when an earthquake is going to occur, similarly with volcanoes, although it can be easier to determine some volcanic activity.
In april last year I was smack bang in the middle of Kathmandu when Nepal's big shake hit resulting in the death of more than ten thousand people. It is a terrifying experience to go through and an experience I hope never to have again.