Banda Aceh. A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra island early Wednesday, 7 April 2010, injuring at least four people, one of them critically, in Simeulue district, Aceh province. A tsunami alert was issued in the province and in Thailand, though both were canceled. There are initial reports of widespread panic as locals on Simeulue Island fled to higher ground. Damage has occurred to a number of government buildings. The quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometers off the northwest coast of Sumatra at 5:15 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.

Indonesian geologists said it had a magnitude of 7.2 and the epicenter was 60 kilometers southeast of Sinabang, on Simeulue Island, Aceh province, which was devastated by a massive quake and tsunami in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a watch for tsunamis in Sumatra but said a destructive ocean surge was not expected. Electricity was down in the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh but mobile phones were working. Residents of Banda Aceh said they felt the earth shaking powerfully for about a minute and many fled their homes or piled onto motorcycles to head inland in fear of a destructive tsunami.

“People panicked and ran out of the house, it lasted almost a minute,” a Jakarta Globe reporter in Banda Aceh said. “I saw a lot of people who live close to the sea using motorcycles to drive inland.”

Indonesia was the nation hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, with at least 168,000 people killed when the sea surged over the northern tip of Sumatra after a 9.3-magnitude quake split the seabed to the island’s west.

Source : JG (7/4/2010)