Fortunately for shore explorers out today, this phenomenon did not affect Singapore's shores.
For a view of the lunar eclipse in Singapore, see the Manta blog.
Lunar eclipse to summon violent waves near Sumatra
The Jakarta Post 31 Jan 09;
The West Sumatra Natural Disaster Coordinating Unit has warned fishermen and sea travel operators that the lunar eclipse on Feb. 9 could summon violent waves with up to five meters high.
Unit head Ade Edward said Saturday that the gravitational effect of the eclipse would be accompanied by strong wind from the Indian Ocean heading towards seashores in Sumatra, creating beach abrasion and flood.
“We have issued warnings for violent waves, flood, landslide and abrasion to all regency and cities in West Sumatra, so that they will be prepared for the extreme weather condition, which will peak in February,” Ade said.
He also said fishermen were urged to watch over the sky before going to the sea, “if the clouds are dark, they better not go to sea.”
Tidal wave damages houses in Marunda, residents flee
Jakarta Post 10 Feb 09;
JAKARTA: A large tidal wave damaged 37 houses in Marunda and Kalibaru, North Jakarta, on Monday forcing residents to flee their houses.
After January's tidal wave that damaged 77 houses in the same area, the water forced families to take refuge at nearby Marunda Apartments. Some 700 families are currently living there.
"We are used to tidal waves from way back," a resident, Ratmini, told beritajakarta.com.
"However, this time it was quite big and damaged our houses. Usually, we only experience flooding from the tides."
Another resident, Yadi, said there used to be a swamp near the beach to accommodate the raising sea level. Marunda Apartments are where the swamp was located.
Marunda subdistrict head Imawan Wahyudi said the North Jakarta administration should construct a five-kilometer embankment in Marunda as the current one had been eroded.
"The 1.5-meter-tall embankment is now only 50 centimeters due to the wave crushing it," he said.
