Major Earthquake Shakes Indonesia

A major earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck off the coast of Aceh in north-western Indonesia yesterday morning. A tsunami alert was later lifted.

Neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia also cancelled their tsunami warnings.

A Reuters photographer in Sinabang on Simeulue island, south of Aceh and close to the quake’s epicentre, said electricity was cut and some people were injured. One child had a head wound from being hit by falling masonry.

A local official said 17 people were hurt on the island, including four with serious injuries.

[Colonel Tata Endrataka, Commander of Medan Airforce Base]: (male, language unknown)
"As we have seen together, there was no significant damage, hopefully after we see the result of the photos and maximise those photos, we will be able to see the real impact.”

The resource-rich island of Sumatra, where Aceh is located, is an important supplier of commodities such as rubber, palm oil and liquefied natural gas. There were no immediate reports of delays in shipments caused by the quake.