The earthquake that rocked Indonesia yesterday night with a magnitude of 8.7 and left hundreds dead was in fact an aftershock of the 9.0-qauke in December, said the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The latest quake, which occurred 250 km southeast of Banda Aceh and around 10 kilometers under the Indian Ocean seabed, sent panic across Asia that it would trigger another tsunami.
But soon the governments’ of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Thailand withdrew tsunami alerts after receiving green signal from their respective metrological department.
The death toll in Indonesia meanwhile is said to have reached more than 2,000, although local mayor of Gunungsitoli – the main town near Nias Island off Sumatra devastated by yesterday’s quake - has put the figure at 200.
“Roughly it is expected between 1,000 and 2,000 died,” Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said.
While deputy mayor of Gunungsitoli, Agus Mendrofa said out of the town's 27,000 people, some 10,000 fled to higher grounds immediately sirens went on. "Gunungsitoli is now like a dead town. The situation here is extreme panic," he said.
Nainggolan, the town's deputy police chief, said people were still trapped in damaged buildings and rescue work was on. "The earthquake was massive, it's still shaking now," he said.
The rugged coastal town Nias, which is situated off Sumatra's western coast, is regarded as a surfers’ paradise.
