An earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island killed five people, damaged 60 homes and prompted many panicked residents to spend the night outdoors, officials said on Tuesday.
The quake with an estimated magnitude of 5,6 struck the western island at 9.44pm local time on Monday, Indonesia’s Geophysics Agency said. No aftershocks were reported.
The hardest-hit town was Padang Pandjang where crews were cleaning up the damage on Tuesday, agency official Arief Karyadi said.
The town is about 1 000km northwest of the capital, Jakarta.
Residents panicked and fled their homes when the quake hit and stayed outside overnight, fearing that aftershocks might collapse their houses, Karyadi said.
But there were no reports of aftershocks, and on Tuesday transportation was running as normal, city services like electricity and phones were working and most businesses were open, Karyadi said.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the so-called Pacific ”Ring of Fire”– an arc of volcanic and seismic activity partly encircling the Pacific Basin.
Earlier this month, an earthquake in West Papua province with an estimated magnitude of 6,8 killed three dozen people and injured more than 100. — Sapa-AP