[BREAKING] Indonesia Earthquake: Some Feared Dead While Tsunami Alert Is Called Off
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By Tang Ruxyn — 02 Mar 2016, 11:21 PM — Updated almost 9 years ago
Indonesia and Australia have called off the Tsunami warning which was issued earlier after an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck off the west coast of Sumatra at 8:49pm Malaysian time
The warning was issued for West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh after the tremor, the National Meteorological Agency said.
The epicentre was 808 kilometres south-west of Padang, West Sumatra, according to the US Geological Survey, and 10 kilometres deep.
Australia cancelled an earlier tsunami watch warning for parts of Western Australia.
The USGS originally put the magnitude at 8.2 then 8.1, before lowering it to 7.8.
Reuters reported earlier that there were fatalities as a result of the initial earthquake but Indonesia officials said there is no information on deaths from the earthquake so far
"Up until now, there is no information about deaths," said Heronimus Guru, the agency's deputy head of operations.
Guru earlier told Reuters the earthquake had killed some people, but that he did not know how many.
reuters.com
Tremors were felt in certain parts of Malaysia and Singapore
According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), tremors were felt in Shah Alam, Subang and Klang in Selangor.
Residents in Singapore reported feeling tremors in areas including Bishan, East Coast, Seng Kang and Ang Mo Kio. However, Singapore is unlikely to be affected by the earthquake, said the National Environment Agency.