Aftershocks recorded off Indonesia's coast

Two strong earthquakes hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra today, Hong Kong seismologists said, likely aftershocks of the powerful 8.7-magnitude quake that hit the region last week.

A magnitude-6.1 quake centred 174 miles west-north-west of Padang was recorded at 8.05am local time, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

A second quake registering 6.3 hit 118 miles south-south-west of Medan at 10.16am local time (3.16am Irish time), it said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the quakes caused any casualties or damage.

The powerful quake that struck just north of the island of Nias near Sumatra last Monday killed at least 548 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.

Parts of Indonesia were also devastated by a massive quake and tsunami on December 26.

That disaster killed more than 126,000 in Indonesia and at least 48,000 others in 10 other countries on the Indian Ocean rim.