Thursday, 21 February 2008

South east Asia on high alert

February 20 2008

Jakarta - A strong 7.5-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, sparking a local tsunami alert and triggering panic, US meteorologists and residents said.

The US Geological Survey said the undersea quake struck at 3.08pm (local time) about 312km west-south west of the North Sumatra capital Medan, at a depth of 34km.

Indonesia's meteorological agency, which put the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, said it struck 42km north west of the town of Sinabang, the main town on Simeulue island, in Aceh province.A 5.5-magnitude aftershock hit shortly afterwards, it said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a local watch bulletin, saying there was no threat of a "destructive widespread tsunami" but that a local tsunami could affect coastal areas within a 100km radius.

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