Malaysia: Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 hits Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 23: An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 occurred 253 km Northeast of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at around 8 pm local time, said National Center for Seismology.

Witnesses said many residents ran out of their homes to higher ground, but later received text messages saying there was no danger of a tsunami.

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency measured the earthquake at magnitude 6.5 and said it was too deep to trigger a tsunami. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines.

In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.