Jakarta, April 7 (DPA) Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning Wednesday morning after an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale jolted Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra and sent panicked residents fleeing out of their homes.
The quake struck at 5.15 a.m. (2215 GMT Tuesday) with an epicentre 75 km southeast of Sinabang on Simeuleu island, off the western coast of Aceh province. It occurred about 34 km beneath the seabed, said Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
The quake reportedly panicking residents in various cities in Aceh, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the quake, an official at Jakarta’s BMG office said.
It was the latest in a series of earthquakes to hit Aceh in recent months.
A massive 9.2-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck five years ago, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh and 500,000 people homeless.
