A tsunami warning went up in Indonesia after a powerful, shallow natural disaster struck off its southwestern coast Wednesday, sending residents scampering to higher ground.
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The closest major city on Sumatra was Padang.
At present, there are unconfirmed reports of a number of casualties, with numbers likely to rise in the coming hours, according to search and rescue teams.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located 500 miles southwest of the city at Padang, at a depth of about 15 miles (24 km), according to the USGS.
The province of Aceh on the northwest tip of Sumatra bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami, with at least 168,000 killed. In November 2014, two earthquakes struck the area, one of a magnitude of 7.1 and the other of a 7.0. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake’s magnitude to be 7.9. However the head of Indonesia’s met agency Andi Eka Sakya told media at 10.30pm that the alert was not officially lifted, although the possibility of a tsunami at that point was slim.
Experts say shallow earthquakes increase the likelihood of damage.
Mingming Evora, country director for Indonesia for charity Plan International, said people were already going back to their homes.
It attributed this information to an AFP news agency reporter, who also told Al Jazeera that traffic had ground to a halt and that there was a sense of panic on the streets. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center issued but then canceled a tsunami watch for Western Australia.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology issued a marine warning for the distant Cocos and Christmas islands.
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At the time of the quake, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo was in Sumatra. Sri Lanka, badly hit by the 2004 tsunami, also said Wednesday’s quake did not pose a threat to it. No evacuations were ordered but locals were warned of potentially risky rips, waves and strong ocean currents.
