Strong Earthquake Of 6.5 Magnitude Strikes Off Sumatra Coast
March 6, 2010 |15:45 | Earthquake | Natural Disaster | News By : Team X
A strong earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck the western coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Friday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck shortly after 11 pm local time at a shallow depth of 13.7 miles, with its epicenter located some 100 miles west of Bengkulu in Sumatra.
Though the quake spread panic among local residents in the coastal town of Bengkulu, no injuries or damages have been reported so far. No tsunami warning has been issued after the quake, with the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency stating that the quake was not strong enough to generate a tsunami.
Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesian archipelago as it is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," where several tectonic plates collide. Friday's quake follows a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 1,117 people and injured hundreds of others in Indonesia's West Sumatra province on 30th September, 2009. That quake also left an estimated half a million homeless.
A 9.1 magnitude earthquake quake that struck Indonesia on December 26, 2004 set off a massive tsunami that rolled through the Indian Ocean and killed over 200,000 people in Indonesia and other countries. Since then, Indonesia has been hit by some 30 quakes of 6.3 magnitude or higher.
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