A strong earthquake has hit off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing two people and injuring 20.
The 6.1 magnitude quake, which did not have the potential to cause a tsunami, damaged buildings and caused panic among people in Sumatra as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
It struck about 41 miles north-northwest of Bukittinggi, a hilly town in West Sumatra, and triggered a landslide in the district of West Pasaman.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said at least two people were killed in the district – the closest area to the epicentre – and 20 others were injured as dozens of houses and buildings collapsed.
The agency initially put the magnitude at 6.2.
Frans Kiky Nainggolan, a shopkeeper living in Riau province, said: ‘People gathered outside their homes and workplaces. They were scared of the tremors. Cables were shaking’.
Hilfa Akmal, from Subang Jaya on Kuala Lumpur’s outskirts, added: ‘I felt the tremors for 1-2 minutes… We evacuated fast and others from another floor also.’
The earthquake struck about 7.4 miles below the Earth’s surface, according to The US Geological Survey.
Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks.
Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia’s geophysics agency BMKG, told MetroTV: ‘We continue to monitor and advise people to remain on alert.’
Television reports showed the strong quake sending panicked people into the streets in Padang, the capital of the province of West Sumatra, and patients in a hospital at West Pasaman were being evacuated from the building.
People in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore also reportedly felt the tremors.
A video circulated on social media showed residents gathered in streets after high-rises in Kuala Lumpur swayed for a few seconds.
In January 2021, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi.
Indonesia has several seismic faults and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.
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