Strong earthquake causes panic in Aceh

A powerful earthquake caused residents to flee buildings in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh, the region hardest hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, witnesses said today.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 and was centred 18 miles beneath the Indian Ocean and 50 miles south-west of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, the US Geological Survey said on its website.