Indonesia: An earthquake of 6.8 on the Richter scale shook parts of Indonesia yesterday, sending people in the city of Padang on Sumatra island rushing out of their homes and heading towards high ground in fear of a possible tsunami.
An official said there were reports of houses flattened elsewhere on Sumatra, but there were no reports of any casualties.
Jakarta-based meteorological analyst Wijayanto also told reporters "there are no tsunami reports, so residents can return home, but they must still be careful of aftershocks".
The latest quake was felt in Indonesia's neighbour, Singapore, as well.
A Reuters reporter in Padang, a city of some 800,000 on Sumatra's west coast, saw many frightened people leaving their houses and seeking higher ground.
"There are reports of damage in Pariaman and Lubuk Basung," Mr Wijayanto said, referring to other communities. "Some houses are flattened."
He said there were major problems with telephone communication into the affected areas, but electricity had been restored in Padang after an interruption of about an hour.
The United States Geological Survey said on its website that the quake, which struck at 5.29 local time (10.29 GMT) was "strong".
It said aftershocks of 5.8 and 6.3 magnitude occurred in the same region at 10.45 GMT and 11.14 GMT, respectively.
Mr Wijayanto said the quake epicentre was in the ocean 105km (65 miles) southwest of Padang at a depth of 30km.
"It's part of the chain of previous quakes. It's not an aftershock," Fauzi, another official with the national meteorological bureau in Jakarta, told Reuters.
Singapore's Channel News Asia said residents of high-rise apartments in the city state reported feeling their buildings swaying.
Indonesia has experienced a series of quakes and aftershocks since a massive tremor on December 26th triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 180,000 people. Nearly 50,000 more are still unaccounted for from that disaster.
Another quake off Sumatra on March 28th is estimated to have killed up to 2,000.
Full details on casualties are often slow to emerge in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands. - (Reuters)