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JAKARTA : Indonesia's Sumatra island was rocked by two powerful aftershocks in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with local tsunami alerts being issued on both occasions, the US Geological Survey said.
A strong 6.7-magnitude aftershock struck at 1:06 am (1806 GMT) at a depth of 35 kilometres, 164 kilometres southwest of Sumatra's Padang, the survey said, causing people to wake and flee outside.
Three hours later the same area was rocked again by what appeared to be another aftershock, the USGS said, with that one measured at 6.9 and again 35 kilometres deep.
On both occasions the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued local alerts, but there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
The aftershocks came after a 7.2-magnitude quake struck off the west coast of Sumatra on Monday afternoon, briefly triggering a tsunami alert, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage.
A policeman in Padang who gave his name as Kalinggin told AFP that the first aftershock was felt quite strongly and residents rushed outside to ensure their safety, but there was no panic "as people have got used to quakes."
"There were no immediate reports of damage," he added.
"Most probably it's an aftershock following the quake today (Monday)," Benny, from Indonesia's geophysics and meteorology office (BMG), told AFP of the 6.7.
Last Wednesday, a strong 7.5-magnitude quake also rocked Indonesia's Aceh province, at the tip of Sumatra, killing three people and seriously injuring 25 others on remote Simeulue island.
The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh. - AFP/de
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