JAKARTA Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert issued after a powerful 7.2-magnitude quake struck off the west coast of Sumatra island on Monday, the geophysics and meteorological agency said. “The tsunami warning has ended after the 7.2-magnitude quake,” the agency said in a text message.

The quake hit 165 kilometres northwest of Sumatra’s Mukomuko at 3:36 pm local time at a depth of 10 kilometres, the agency said. The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.3 and said it occurred at a depth of 35 kilometres. The quake was felt in tall buildings in the capital Jakarta, where pictures swayed on walls.

In Bengkulu, about 280 kilometres from the epicentre, provincial government official Linda told that the quake was felt strongly. “But, God be praised, there does not appear to be any damage visible so far,” she said. “Everyone rushed out of buildings, but this has become sort of a habit for us all, so there was not panic,” she shttp://indahnesia.com/Personal/news.php?action=add indahnesia.com - My Indahnesia - Discover Indonesia Onlineaid, adding that people had quickly returned to normal activities in her neighbourhood.

Location of the earthquake
· M 7.3, Kepulauan Mentawai region