Coral Reefs Destroyed by Quake: North Sumatra

At one time I used to dive on a regular basis but not so much now. I enjoyed exploring the coral reefs and revelling in their beauty and colour. Indonesia has some of the best dive sites in the world but unfortunately natural disasters do have an affect on the coral reefs. A strong earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island two years ago caused one of the biggest coral die-offs ever documented, a study by scientists from two conservation groups found.

The scientists, who surveyed 35 sites on the coastline, found that the earthquake had raised the island of Simeulue near Nias by up to 1.2 meters, exposing most of the coral reefs ringing the island over about 300 km (190 miles) of sea floor.