Undersea quake hits Sumatra

AN undersea earthquake that hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra yesterday sent people fleeing from their homes in panic, but the tremor was not strong enough to generate a tsunami, seismologists and meteorologists said.

The epicentre of the 6.8-magnitude quake was about 70 miles south-west of Padang, a city in western Sumatra, at a depth of nearly 19 miles, the US Geological Survey said.

“Many people in Padang are panicking,” said Yusuf, an official from Indonesia’s Geophysics and Meteorology Agency.

“People have left their houses, especially those on the coast.”

Tremors were felt in several areas around the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, national meteorologist Chow Kok Kee said.

The quake was recorded at 5.29pm local time (11.29am Irish time).

Sumatra was devastated by the December 26 tsunami and earthquake that killed nearly 183,000 people in 11 countries.

On March 28 a quake with 8.7-magnitude hit islands off Sumatra, killing at least 647 people.