Earthquake in Sumatra, Tremors Felt in Malaysia.

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck off the city of Padang off the coast of southern Sumatra at about 6.17pm on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people, trapping thousands of others and causing tremors as far away as peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

The earthquake which damaged houses, brought down bridges and buildings and caused fires in Padang, also caused people to evacuate buildings in various towns and cities in Malaysia.The epicentre of the quake was about 481km southwest of Kuala Lumpur.


Reuters has reported that the earthquake struck off the city of Padang on the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, damaging houses, bringing down bridges and starting fires, according to witnesses.


No injuries were reported in Singapore nor Malaysia. The Pacific Tsunami Warning center issued an alert for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand but there is no report of wave activity thereafter. Indonesia sits on what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, the convergence of volcanos and fault lines.


Meantime the death toll of Tuesday’s Samoa quake is still increasing.That quake hit closest to Hihifo Tonga and Pago Pago. While initial Tsunami reports had waters topping at 10 feet and no deaths, current data puts the water reaching 15 to 20 feet in some areas and the death toll at 34 and rising.