A powerful undersea earthquake struck the northern Indonesian province of Aceh today, but there were no reports of major damage or casualties and officials said there was no threat of a tsunami.
The epicenter of today's magnitude 6,2 earthquake was 40 kilometers southwest of Meulaboh, a coastal city in Aceh province, at a depth of 49 kilometers, the US Geological Survey reported.
Eyewitnesses reported that many people ran out of their homes and fled to higher ground when the earthquake struck before dawn, but later received messages saying there was no danger of a tsunami.
A strong earthquake off the coast of Aceh in 2004 triggered a large tsunami that killed 230.000 people in a dozen countries.
The Indonesian Meteorological, Climate and Geophysical Agency measured the earthquake at magnitude 6,4. It is common for initial measurements of earthquake strength to differ.
Indonesia is a seismically active archipelago of 270 million people that is frequently affected by disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.
In February, a magnitude 6,2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6,2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6.500 in West Sulawesi province.
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