Strong Quake Hits Indonesia's Aceh Province

Banda Aceh, TAG - A strong undersea earthquake hit off the west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday morning, sending terrified residents fleeing from homes and buildings but no tsunami was generated and there were no reports of injuries of damage.

The 6.6-magnitude quake struck around 07:27 am local time (00:30 GMT) some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, at a depth of 45 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

Indonesian Meteorology Agency on its website put the 6.4 magnitude quake some 24 kilometers of southwest Simeulue district, a beautiful island in Aceh province, at a depth of 10 kilometer.

Residents in Simeulue, a small island about 150 kilometres (93 miles) off Sumatra's west coast, said violent shaking was felt for about a minute and had caused an electricity blackout.

"People were crying, grabbing their belongings and rushing out of their homes," said Abdul Karim, a civil servant in Sinabang, the capital of Simeulue island.

A local journalist in the area said, "There is no electrical power in some areas, and I can see cracks in the walls of homes around me."

"Some people are returning inside their homes, but others are still outside, afraid there may be aftershocks," he said as qouted by AFP.

The tremor also felt by residents in the entire west coast of Aceh province such as Singkil, Tapaktuan, Meulaboh, Calang as well as the capital Banda Aceh. It’s also reported felt by people in Malaysia.

Local media and Indonesia's meteorology agency said there were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage.

The agency placed the quake in the sea off Simeulue, but did not issue a tsunami warning. It said slight shaking was also felt in the city of Banda Aceh, about 360 kilometres from Simeulue.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also said the Indonesian quake posed no tsunami threat to Australia.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.[]