Indonesia struck by 7.3 earthquake west of Sumatra Island

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Just months after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake killed 340 people in West Java, Indonesia was struck by a 7.3 earthquake west of Sumatra Island on Tuesday, causing residents to evacuate to higher ground and triggering a tsunami warning for two hours, Reuters reports.

According to data gathered by Indonesia’s geophysics agency (BMKG), Tuesday’s quake began at a depth of 84 kilometers (52.2 miles), and struck at around 3 a.m. local time, Reuters reports. Local authorities issued evacuation orders, instructing residents to leave beach areas.

“Local news footage showed some Padang residents evacuating by motorbike and foot to higher ground,” Reuters said in its report. “Some carried backpacks while others huddled together under an umbrella against the rain.”

The quake was reportedly felt most strongly in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, Reuters reports.

“People left their homes. Some were panicking but under control. Currently, some of them are evacuating away from the sea,” Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency spokesman Abdul Muhari told Reuters. “Many residents in several villages on Mentawai island chose to stay … in higher ground, although the tsunami alert was ended, due to fears of aftershocks,” Muhari added.

Indonesian authorities are understood to be in the process of assessing the damage caused by the quake, Reuters said.

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