Magnitude 7.4 earthquake rattles western Indonesia, prompting tsunami watch

Magnitude 7.4 earthquake rattles western Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 rattled Indonesia’s North Sumatra province Sunday, prompting a local tsunami watch, knocking out power and damaging some homes, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the afternoon quake hit 135 miles (220 kilometers) southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth at 38 miles (61 kilometers). Indonesia and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami watch for the area.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center watch said there was no threat of a widespread tsunami, but “there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter.”

Fauzi, chief of Indonesia’s meteorology agency, said the closest town to the epicenter was Meulaboh, but there are not yet reports from there. Like many Indonesians, Fauzi uses only one name.

Riswan, local government secretary on Simeulue island, said the quake damaged some houses and caused a power outage, but phones were still working.

Local media reports said the quake caused panic in many parts of Aceh and neighboring North Sumatra province.

Indonesia rests on a series of fault lines that make the archipelago nation one of the most world’s most earthquake-prone. A quake last year killed more than 1,000 people on Sumatra. Another off Indonesia’s coast caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000.