A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey said. The tremor rattled residents but caused no serious damage.
Authorities said the quake hit offshore near Sumatra’s north-eastern tip. Residents rushed outdoors as buildings shook in a region that frequently endures powerful earthquakes.
“I was at home when it happened. The shaking was really strong,” Ahmadi, 50, from the coastal town of Sinabang in Aceh province, told AFP by telephone.
“I panicked. We fled the house. The jolt was short, so things went back to normal,” he said, adding that he saw families running into the streets.
Rahmat Triyono, head of Indonesia’s BMKG earthquake and tsunami centre, said people on Simeulue island and along Aceh’s east coast would have felt strong shaking. Windows and doors rattled. Walls creaked. Some glassware may have broken.
He said there was no risk of a tsunami. Residents in north-eastern Sumatra also felt weaker tremors.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a vast arc of seismic activity where tectonic plates collide from Japan through South-East Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck Aceh province. It triggered a tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.
