EARTHQUAKE OF MAGNITUDE 7.9 COULD CAUSE TSUNAMI AT INDIAN OCEAN AND JAPAN

PADANG, Indonesia - A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the city of Padang on the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, damaging houses, bringing down bridges and starting fires, a witness said.

• The quake was felt around the region, with some high-rise buildings in the neighbouring city state of Singapore, 275 miles (440 km) away, evacuating their staff.
• A regional tsunami warning was issued, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Japan's meterological agency said. It was unclear if there were any casualties.
• "Hundreds of houses have been damaged along the road. There are some fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here maybe because water pipes are broken and there is flooding in the streets," said a Reuters witness in the city.
• The depth of the tsunami was measured at 85 km, the United States Geological Survey said.
• Indonesia is situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire". The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.9.
• A series of tsunamis earlier smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, some washed out to sea, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters