Strong quake rocks Indonesia's Aceh

Banda Aceh, Indonesia - An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday, with no immediate reports of casualties and damage, officials said.

The national earthquake centre issued a tsunami warning after the quake at 1:37 am (1837 GMT Tuesday) but lifted it an hour later, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

The quake’s epicentre was 420 kilometres south-west of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island, at a depth of 29 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.

"We have not received reports of damage or casualties," said Sutopo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.

Aceh was "safe," said Sahnan, the head of the provincial meteorology and geophysics agency, who like many Indonesians goes by only name.

Residents in the coastal areas of Banda Aceh fled to higher ground, fearing a tsunami.

"People woke up and ran out of their house in panic," said Imran Surya, a Banda Aceh resident. "These people have seen a tsunami before."

Aceh was the region hardest hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with about 170,000 people killed there.

That tsunami was triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra, and left an estimated total of 230,000 people dead across the region.//DPA