Earthquake hits Indonesia's Aceh province, no causalities reported

Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 shook Indonesia’s northwest province of Aceh at 2.05 pm today though no Tsunami warning was issued. There are no casualties or injuries reported after the quake. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at a depth of 20 km off the coast of Simeulue Island. The Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency put the quake at a magnitude of 6.4 and a depth of 13 kilometres.

No Tsunami warning

Talking to international media, Ahmadi, a resident of  Simeulue who was a witness to the natural disaster said that the people are constantly watching at the beach to monitor the movement of the seawater. Rahmat Triyono, who heads the earthquake and tsunami centre at Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said there was no risk of a tsunami from the quake. Maimum, a disaster mitigation official on the island nearest to the epicentre said that the people panicked and ran out of the building. Others who were praying at the mosque ran out of the place. 

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National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said the quake caused cracks or broken windows in several buildings in Sinabang, but no injuries were reported. Residents in parts of Aceh and neighbouring North Sumatra province felt a moderate tremor for a few seconds, while people in the Aceh provincial capital of Banda Aceh did not feel the quake, Wibowo added. A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, and Aceh province, which was closest to the earthquake, was hit first and hardest. More than 1,70,000 people died in Indonesia alone, about three-quarters of the overall death toll. 

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