Powerful quake shakes Sumatra

Powerful quake shakes Sumatra

JAKARTA: Thousands of residents were forced to flee their
homes in panic as a powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the
Richter scale shook Sumatra island, the National Meteorological
and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said on Monday.

No injuries or casualties were reported after the quake late
Sunday, which was centered deep below the earth's surface, BMG
spokesman Edison Gurning said in a press statement.

He said the quake's epicenter was located about 100 kilometers
northwest of Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province,
and occurred at a depth of 600 kilometers.

Tremors were felt in a number of provinces in Sumatra, as well
as Jakarta, Edison added. --Antara