6.2-magnitude quake hits off Indonesia’s Sumatra: USGS

According to the US Geological Survey, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island early on Monday.

USGS reported that the quake’s epicentre was located 48 kilometres (30 miles) south-southeast of the city of Singkil in Aceh province, at a depth of 37 kilometres.

USGS increased the magnitude from 6.0 to 6.2 and the depth from 48 to 60 kilometres, indicating that the event occurred at approximately 6:30 am local time (2230 GMT).

No tsunami threat was reported by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the country’s disaster agency said no casualties or significant damage had been reported so far.

“Shocked by the earthquake, the populace became disorderly. Four areas in Aceh and North Sumatra province reported feeling it for 3-10 seconds “BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

Because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of the Earth where tectonic plates constantly collide, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Six hundred and two people were killed when an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck the populous West Java province on the island of Java on November 21.

The majority of casualties occurred as a result of building collapses and landslides.

On December 26, 2004, a devastating earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killing more than 230,000 people in countries as far away as Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, was hit by 30-meter (100-foot) waves caused by the 9.1-magnitude earthquake.