7.9 magnitude of earthquake hit Southwest of Indonesia: USGS

Image Source: Sky News

JAKARTA:  A powerful and shallow earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck off the West coast of Indonesian Island of Sumatra on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicentre of the earthquake was 808 km southwest of Padang,  USGS said. It was 10 Km deep.

There was no immediate reports of damage or casualties but the shallower a quake, the more likely it is to cause damage. USGS originally put the magnitude of 8.2, then 8.1  before lowering it to 7.9.

Indonesia,  back in 2004 was badly hit by Indian Ocean Tsunami, straddles the so called "Pacific Rings of  Fire", a highly seismically active zone where different plates on earth's crust meets and creates a large number of earthquakes and volcenos.

Indonesia issued a Tsunami warning for West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh after the powerful earthquake, the National Meteorological Agency said.