Indonesia quake: Hit by panic, people ran to higher ground

Jakarta, March 2: Panicky residents of Sumatra rushed to higher ground after a powerful earthquake hit the southwestern coast of the island of Indonesia. They waited there till the tsunami warning was lifted.

The US Geological Service said the quake was of 7.8 magnitude and centred under the ocean at a depth of 2 kilometres. It said the quake occurred far off from the land. Authorities in Indonesia said there was a small chance of a tsunami following the earthquake as it did not occur along a major fault.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago and located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines, experienced a 9.1 quake in late 2004 that had triggered a tsunami, killing over 2 lakh people in 12 countries. The Aceh province in Sumatra saw the maximum casualties.

While authorities in Australia issued a marine warning for the distant Cocos and Christmas islands and later cancelled a tsunami warning for Western Australia, the Indian government said no tsunami threat was posed for the country's eastern coast.

Oneindia News