A strong and shallow earthquake hit off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Friday, damaging buildings and panicking people in Sumatra island and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north-northwest of Bukittinggi, a hilly town in West Sumatra province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) below the Earth’s surface.
As per the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, at least four people, including two children, were killed in the Pasaman district while three people died in the neighboring district of West Pasaman. The agency also said that 85 were injured as 410 houses and buildings were damaged.
More than 5,000 people fled their homes to temporary shelters, mostly in devastated areas of Pasaman and West Pasaman districts, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.
People in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore also reportedly felt the tremors. A video that circulated on social media showed residents gathered in streets after high-rises in Kuala Lumpur swayed for a few seconds. Witnesses reported seeing their doors and chairs shaking and photos and paintings fixed to the walls trembling.
Indonesia has a number of 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.
The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north-northwest of Bukittinggi, a hilly town in West Sumatra province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) below the Earth’s surface.
As per the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, at least four people, including two children, were killed in the Pasaman district while three people died in the neighboring district of West Pasaman. The agency also said that 85 were injured as 410 houses and buildings were damaged.
More than 5,000 people fled their homes to temporary shelters, mostly in devastated areas of Pasaman and West Pasaman districts, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.
People in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore also reportedly felt the tremors. A video that circulated on social media showed residents gathered in streets after high-rises in Kuala Lumpur swayed for a few seconds. Witnesses reported seeing their doors and chairs shaking and photos and paintings fixed to the walls trembling.
Indonesia has a number of 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.
