Earthquake rocks Aceh, North Sumatra

Earthquake rocks Aceh, North Sumatra

INDONESIA: A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's
tsunami-ravaged Aceh province Saturday, causing panic among
residents, official and witnesses said. There were no immediate
reports of damage or casualties.

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near southern Aceh's
Singkil town and its surrounding areas at 11:30 a.m. (0430 GMT),
said Muslih, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics
Agency.

Muslih, who uses one name like many Indonesians, said the
quake strongly jolted Singkil, but so far there were no reports
of its effects.

Andayani, an official at the local district office, said many
panicked city-dwellers ran out of their houses when the quake
struck.

"Thank God, we have not heard of any damage or casualties so
far," Andayani said.

The private El Shinta radio reported that the quake also
jolted Nias island in North Sumatra province, also causing panic
among villagers.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to
seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific
"Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the
Pacific Basin.

Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, was the hardest
hit by the Dec. 26 magnitude 9 quake and subsequent tsunami that
killed more than 176,000 people in 11 countries, 131,000 of them
in Aceh alone.

Three months later another strong tremor killed more than 900
on Nias and smaller surrounding islands, also in western
Indonesia.

Earthquakes of magnitude 6 and below are not considered strong
enough to trigger a tsunami. -- AP