Tsunami warning off Indonesia’s Sumatra island after 7.3 magnitude earthquake

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck west of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, briefly triggering a tsunami warning, Indonesia’s geophysics agency (BMKG) said.

The warning, asking local authorities to immediately instruct residents of the affected area to move away from shores, has since been lifted.

The quake hit at about 3am local time at a depth of 84km. A number of aftershocks were detected later, and some registered about 4 magnitude, BMKG data showed. Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said authorities were collecting data from the islands nearest the epicentre off the western shore of Sumatra, spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, the quake was felt strongly, and some people moved away from the beaches, said Abdul, who was in the local area.

“People left their homes. Some were panicking but under control. Currently some of them are evacuating away from the sea,” he said, adding he had seen no damage so far.

Local news footage showed some Padang residents evacuating by motorbike and on foot to higher ground. Some carried backpacks while others huddled together under umbrellas against the rain.

“On the Siberut island, people had already been evacuated. They have been told to stay at the evacuation area until tsunami warning is lifted,” a local official told TvOne.

Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes because it straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone where different plates of the earth’s crust meet.

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