BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA, Jan 7: An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck on Tuesday southwest of Indonesia’s province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra, at a depth of 20.3 km (12.6 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
On Twitter, the Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency put the quake magnitude at 6.4 with a depth of 13 km (8 miles), adding that it did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.
There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties, authorities and residents said.
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“People panicked and ran out of buildings,” said Maimun, a disaster mitigation official on the island nearest to the epicenter.
“People who were praying at a mosque all ran outside,” added Maimun, who uses one name, like many Indonesians.
At least one aftershock was recorded by the Indonesian geophysics agency.
Indonesia, which sits on the seismically active Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, often suffers deadly earthquakes and tsunamis.
In September 2018, Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami it unleashed, killing more than 4,000 people.
