A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck the coast of western Sumatra in Indonesia and tsunami warnings were issued, but have now been lifted by Indonesia’s National Meteorological Agency. Having said that, tons of people have rushed to higher ground as a precaution.
Many deaths have been reported, and the shallow quake had a depth of 10 kilometres. The epicenter was located 808 kilometres southwest of Padang. Residents near the city of Padang also mentioned that the roads are jammed as people are trying to reach higher ground in the midst of this chaos.
Tremors could be felt from Singapore, and also from certain states in Malaysia, like Johor and Selangor. Coastal residents Perlis, Kedah and Penang have been warned to stay away from the beaches for the time being. The Australian and the Thai governments have also both issued warnings for potential tsunamis.
Indonesia sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where various plates on the earth’s crust meet and develop a ton of earthquakes and volcanoes. In 2004, Acheh was also badly hit by a tsunami which resulted in more than 200,000 deaths.
