JAKARTA - A POWERFUL 7.2-magnitude quake hit the Indonesian
province of Aceh on Sunday, seismologists said, triggering a local
tsunami alert.
The quake struck at 12.59 pm (0559 GMT, 1.59pm Singapore time)
66 kilometres southwest of Meulaboh on the Aceh coast, according to
the local Meteorological and Geophysics Agency, in an area
devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.4.
It was not immediately known if there were any casualties or
damage.
The people of Aceh are still traumatised by memories of Dec 26,
2004, when the Indian Ocean surged over the northern tip of Sumatra
after a 9.3-magnitude quake split the seabed to the island's
west.
Indonesia was the nation hardest hit, with at least 168,000
people killed out of more than 220,000 who lost their lives across
the region.
Sunday's quake off Meulaboh, which lies on the northwestern tip
of the island of Sumatra, struck at a depth of 30 kilometres, the
local agency said. -- AFP