Residents flee as major quake strikes off Indonesia
A major earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia late today, sending residents in several countries fleeing in panic fearing that it would cause the region’s second tsunami disaster within four months.
But fears of another catastrophe eased within hours, as officials in countries closest to the quake’s epicentre said they had received no reports of waves striking their coasts three hours after the earthquake hit.
“It seems this earthquake did not trigger a tsunami,” said Prihar Yadi, a scientist with the Indonesia Geophysics Agency. “If it had, the tsunami would have hit the coastline of Sumatra by now.
"And if there’s no tsunami on the coastline near the epicentre of the quake, there will not be one heading in the other direction.”
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 8.7 and was an aftershock of the December 26 quake that sent giant waves crashing into coastlines around the Indian Ocean’s rim and killing more than 125,000 people in 11 countries.
