Strong quake shakes Indonesia's Sumatra

An earthquake off Sumatra was felt for about 10 seconds in coastal cities and was strong enough to shake belongings from shelves and topple furniture.

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.