A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of
southern Sumatra in Indonesia, causing panicked residents to run from their
homes but no major damage.
The US Geological Survey said the quake on Sunday
morning had a magnitude of 6.4 and occurred at a depth of 35km.
It was centered 74km west of the coastal city of
Bengkulu and also felt in Singapore, about 590km from the epicenter. It did not
generate a tsunami.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo
Purwo Nugroho said the quake was felt for about 10 seconds in coastal cities
and was strong enough to shake belongings from shelves and topple furniture.
Residents ran from their homes and there were power
outages in some areas but no reports of casualties or structural damage to
buildings, Nugroho said.
"The intensity of the earthquake felt mild to
moderate," he said.
