Strong quake causes panic in Aceh

Strong quake causes panic in Aceh

JAKARTA: A strong earthquake rocked tsunami-battered Aceh province, causing residents to flee their homes in panic, seismologists said on Sunday.

The magnitude-5.8 earthquake was centered under the Indian Ocean, about 34 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, said Sutiono, an official at the Jakarta office of the Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG).

The tremor occurred at 11:57 p.m. on Saturday night at a depth of 33 kilometers beneath the Earth's surface, added Sutiono, who goes by a single name.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the quake at magnitude- 5.9.

Officials at the local BMG office in Banda Aceh said the quake lasted about one minute. Residents of the city ran out of their homes in panic after it jolted them awake, Sutiono said.

A magnitude-9.3 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26 killed more than 131,000 people in Indonesia and left a half- million homeless, mostly in Aceh. --AP