Earthquake strikes northern Sumatra

A strong 7.8-magnitude quake has hit Indonesia's north Sumatra, according to the US Geological Survey, prompting local authorities and Thailand to issue a tsunami alert.

2 min read

Published 7 April 2010 9:35am

Updated 23 August 2013 2:09pm

By staff, agencies

Source: SBS

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A strong 7.8-magnitude quake has hit Indonesia's north Sumatra, according to the US Geological Survey, prompting local authorities and Thailand to issue a tsunami alert.

The quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometres, just off northern Sumatra, at 5:15 am (0815 EAST Tuesday), according to USGS.

<span>&amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;small&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;" href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&amp;amp;amp;amp;source=embed&amp;amp;amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;geocode=&amp;amp;amp;amp;q=2.236%C2%B0N,+97.046%C2%B0E&amp;amp;amp;amp;sll=-25.335448,135.745076&amp;amp;amp;amp;sspn=99.089716,58.798828&amp;amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;amp;ll=2.236,97.046&amp;amp;amp;amp;spn=11.723792,6.459961&amp;amp;amp;amp;z=8"&amp;amp;gt;View Larger Map&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/small&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;The Joint Australian tsunami warning Centre says there is no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland or to Australian islands or territories.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;"A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;But it added "there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts" no more than 100km from the epicentre of the quake.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;A massive tsunami hit Indonesia and other countries in the Indian Ocean rim in 2004, killing about 220,000 people, most of them in Aceh province in northern Sumatra.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;A 7.6-magnitude quake in West Sumatra province in September last year killed about 1,000 people, according to official figures.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;</span>

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Earthquake strikes northern Sumatra

A strong 7.8-magnitude quake has hit Indonesia's north Sumatra, according to the US Geological Survey, prompting local authorities and Thailand to issue a tsunami alert.

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