JAKARTA: Panic-stricken Sumatrans fled to higher elevations after a powerful earthquake rocked parts of this Indonesian island around noon today.
The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. Authorities said no damage or casualties were reported so far.
According to an official of the Jakarta’s National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, there is no danger of a tsunami although the quake took place 30 kilometers beneath the seabed at about 12.05 p.m. (0505 GMT). Its epicenter was about 50 kilometers northwest of Padang which lies some 850 kilometers to the northwest of Jakarta in the Indian Ocean.
Residents of neighboring island Nias also ran out of their homes and headed for the nearby hills fearing a tsunami. This island was among the worst hit on March 28 when it was struck by a 8.7 quake that killed 900 people.
The country, especially Sumatra, has repeatedly been hit by aftershocks since the 26 December quake that triggered the deadly tsunami wave that killed at least 126,000 lives in Indonesia.
