Strong earthquakes off Indonesia; tsunami warnings cancelled

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BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA (NEWS1130) – The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has cancelled all of its tsunami warnings after two powerful earthquakes hit off Indonesia’s western coast.

The 8.6 and 8.2-magnitude earthquakes triggered panic today; residents in coastal cities fled to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles.

The warnings were lifted around four hours after the first quake. There were no major damage or local tsunami waves reported.

The US Geological Survey says the 8.6 quake was centred 33 kilometres beneath the ocean floor, around 434 kilometres from Aceh’s provincial capital. The 8.2 one was centred 16 kilometres beneath the ocean, around 615 kilometres from the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Tsunami warnings were issued for residents living along the western coast of the country, including Sumatra island and the Mentawai Islands.

India’s Tsunami Warning Center had also issued a warning for parts of the eastern Andaman and Nicobar islands. In Tamil Nadu in southern India, police cordoned off the beach and used loudspeakers to warn people to leave the area.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had been in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore.

Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center issued an evacuation order to residents in six provinces along the country’s west coast, including the popular tourist destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phang-Nga.

There was chaos in the streets, with fierce shaking continuing for nearly four minutes. Residents along coastlines fled to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. Some were crying. Others screamed “God as great” as they poured from their homes.

“I was in the shower on the fifth floor of my hotel,” Timbang Pangaribuan tells El Shinta radio from the city of Medan. “We all ran out. … We’re all standing outside now.”

He says one guest was injured when he jumped from the window of his room.

The tremor was felt in Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia’s west coast shook for at least a minute.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarter of them in Aceh.

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