JAKARTA, April 11: A strong quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia’s Simeulue island off the western coast of Sumatra on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake hit at 1:11pm (0611 GMT) and was centered 30 kilometres under the sea 50 kilometres southeast of Simeulue’s main town of Sinabang.
Simeulue was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale on March 28. It caused massive damage to urban centres in Sinabang and killed 17 people on the island. More than 600 people died on the nearby Nias island.
JAPAN: A major earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rattled Tokyo as commuters headed to work early on Monday, reviving fears of the dreaded “Big One” predicted to hit Japan in the future.
The quake was the biggest since a tremor of equal magnitude hit the Kanto region centering on Tokyo in June 2000, but there were no reports of major damage or casualties.
It struck at 7:22am, with the focus located 52 kilometres underground in the northeastern part of Chiba prefecture, some 100 kilometres east of Tokyo.—AFP
