Strong earthquake hits western Indonesia
A strong undersea earthquake hit western Indonesia early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The magnitude 6.5 quake was centered 91 kilometers (56 miles) west of Sungaipenuh, a district town in Jambi province in Sumatra, or 141 kilometers (88 miles) south of Padang, provincial capital of West Sumatra, the USGS said.
It said the quake had a depth of 50.8 kilometers (31.5 miles).
Indonesia' Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said the earthquake which struck at 5:56 a.m. (2256 GMT) had no potential to trigger tsunami.
But the quake still caused initial panic among residents in Painan, the capital of Pesisirselatan district, which is 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of the epicenter.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
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