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29 March 2024

Indonesia’s Sumatra rattled by strong earthquake

Published
By Agencies
 
 

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 rattled Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Sunday night, the US Geological Survey said, sending frightened residents running from their homes.

 

The quake struck at 9:46pm local time (1446GMT) just off the coast of Bengkulu, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) west of the capital, Jakarta, the USGS said. It had a depth of around 35 kilometers (21.7 miles).

 

The jolt, in the same area shaken by an 8.4 quake in September that killed 25 people, did not trigger a tsunami, national authorities said. Many people fled their homes fearing they would collapse, witnesses said.

 

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, said Gian Ginanjar, an official at the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.

 

Indonesia, which straddles a series of active fault lines, is prone to seismic and volcanic activity. A giant earthquake along the same coast spawned the large tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a number of countries in December 2004. (AP)