Acheh: Deadly Earthquake Shakes Indonesia
Indonesia’s earthquake killed three and injured many more, a morbid reminder of the devastating tsunami-causing earthquake of 2004.
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A strong 7.5-magnitude quake rocked
The US Geological Survey said the undersea quake struck at 3.08pm local time some 312 kilometres west-southwest of the North Sumatra capital
Aftershocks measuring 5.5 and 5.3 hit shortly afterwards, it said.
"Three are dead, 25 seriously injured, many buildings damaged" on Simeulue, health ministry official Rustam Pakaya said in a text message.
"People have evacuated to the mountains."
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre briefly issued a local watch bulletin, saying that a local tsunami could affect coastal areas within a 100-kilometre radius of the quake's epicentre.
Suharjono, from
"Our staff on Simeulue are still closely monitoring the situation," Pakaya warned.
Zainul Tahar, the head of Aceh's search and rescue office, said that he had earlier spoken with officials at the port authority in Sinabang and was told there was no damage there, though the quake sparked mass panic.
Yusran, a resident in Sukajaya village on Simeulue's east coast, said by phone that no one had been injured there and buildings remained intact.
"But people here are very shocked as the quake was very powerful," he added.
In Aceh's capital Banda Aceh, the quake was felt for about two minutes and people initially ran outside in panic, but quickly calmed down, an AFP correspondent said.
ElShinta radio also quoted listeners as saying panic had hit the population in
The Malaysian meteorological department said tremors were felt along
The earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 killed some 168,000 people in Aceh, which is located at the northern tip of
In
Simeulue was one of the islands closest to the 2004 quake's epicentre, but the tsunami killed fewer than 10 people there partly because the 80,000-strong population recognised the receding sea as a sign of disaster and fled inland.
In 2005, entire villages on Simeulue were destroyed by a quake which killed at least 17 people.