Back-to-back earthquakes in Indonesia have killed four people and injured 32, damaging buildings in Sumatra island and neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG warned people to stay away from slopes over fears of landslides at the peak of the rainy season. (AFP)
At least four people have died and 32 were injured when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island, with residents shuttling loved ones to safety as buildings crumbled around them.
The local Public Health Center said in a statement on Friday that four people died, including a child.
The quake came just minutes after a less violent tremor as terrified residents had begun evacuating their houses.
Irpanda, a resident of Pasaman city, told Metro TV that he felt both the first, recorded at 5.0 by USGS, and second tremors.
"At first, the quake only lasted for a few seconds. People fled their homes and buildings nearby were swaying," he said.
"But then another quake happened and it was so strong. More people fled their houses," he said, adding patients at a local hospital were moved outside.
The quake hit the island's north at a depth of 12 kilometres (7.5 miles), about 70 kilometres from the town of Bukittinggi in West Sumatra province, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG warned people to stay away from slopes over fears of landslides at the peak of the rainy season.
The quake was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Riau and North Sumatra and as far away as Malaysia and Singapore. No tsunami warning has been issued.
Tremors felt in Singapore, Malaysia
Images shared with AFP from Pasaman city, near the quake's epicentre, showed partially collapsed houses with bricks lying on the ground and holes in the walls.
Television footage showed patients being wheeled out of a hospital in West Sumatra's provincial capital Padang.
"The mayor called and ordered all second and third floors in every building should be vacated," said Alim Bazar, head of the disaster mitigation agency of Pasaman.
Tremors were also felt in Singapore, witnesses and police said.
The police and emergency services "have received several calls from the public reporting these tremors", police added.
One Singapore resident told AFP he felt a slight shake at home which left him dizzy, while state broadcaster CNA showed a video of ceiling lamps swaying at a highrise apartment.
Malaysia's meteorological department said in a tweet that "vibrations" were felt on the peninsula's western states.
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At least four people have died and 32 were injured when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island, with residents shuttling loved ones to safety as buildings crumbled around them.
The local Public Health Center said in a statement on Friday that four people died, including a child.
The quake came just minutes after a less violent tremor as terrified residents had begun evacuating their houses.
Irpanda, a resident of Pasaman city, told Metro TV that he felt both the first, recorded at 5.0 by USGS, and second tremors.
"At first, the quake only lasted for a few seconds. People fled their homes and buildings nearby were swaying," he said.
"But then another quake happened and it was so strong. More people fled their houses," he said, adding patients at a local hospital were moved outside.
The quake hit the island's north at a depth of 12 kilometres (7.5 miles), about 70 kilometres from the town of Bukittinggi in West Sumatra province, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG warned people to stay away from slopes over fears of landslides at the peak of the rainy season.
The quake was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Riau and North Sumatra and as far away as Malaysia and Singapore. No tsunami warning has been issued.
Tremors felt in Singapore, Malaysia
Images shared with AFP from Pasaman city, near the quake's epicentre, showed partially collapsed houses with bricks lying on the ground and holes in the walls.
Television footage showed patients being wheeled out of a hospital in West Sumatra's provincial capital Padang.
"The mayor called and ordered all second and third floors in every building should be vacated," said Alim Bazar, head of the disaster mitigation agency of Pasaman.
Tremors were also felt in Singapore, witnesses and police said.
The police and emergency services "have received several calls from the public reporting these tremors", police added.
One Singapore resident told AFP he felt a slight shake at home which left him dizzy, while state broadcaster CNA showed a video of ceiling lamps swaying at a highrise apartment.
Malaysia's meteorological department said in a tweet that "vibrations" were felt on the peninsula's western states.
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Quake rattles Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 7 people
Yesterday
© Reuters/ANTARA FOTO
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least seven people and injured dozens more when it struck inland near the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Friday, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, officials said.
The quake caused residents to flee buildings in some areas and triggered evacuations nearly 400km (250 miles) away in Malaysia.
"We continue to monitor and advise people to remain on alert," Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia's geophysics agency BMKG, told MetroTV. The agency initially put the magnitude at 6.2.
The disaster mitigation agency said seven were killed and 85 were injured. Its chief said some buildings, including a government office, homes and a bank sustained damage.
A hospital was evacuated in West Pasaman, about 17 km (10.6 miles) from the epicentre, while a witness said residents in other areas panicked as the earthquake shook buildings for over a minute, rattling glass windows and furniture.
"People gathered outside their homes and workplaces. They were scared of the tremors. Cables were shaking," said Frans Kiky Nainggolan, a shopkeeper living in Riau province on Sumatra.
Authorities in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur received calls about tremors felt in the city, though there had been no reports of injuries or damage.
"I felt the tremors for one to two minutes...We evacuated fast and others from another floor also," said Hilfa Akmal, who lives on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Singapore police said on Twitter they had also received calls from people reporting tremors, though there were no reports of injuries.
Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, straddling the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a seismically active zone where different plates of the earth's crust meet.
The fault along Sumatra island can be particularly active and dangerous. In 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude quake and a tsunami off the northern tip of Sumatra killed 226,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.
(Reporting by Angie Teo, Fransiska Nangoy, Stanley Widianto, Bernadette Christina; Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Editing by Ed Davies and Kanupriya Kapoor)
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