An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale has struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says.\n<\/p>\n
The temblor hit at a shallow depth of just 23 kilometers (14 miles) off the southwest coast of the island, the USGS said on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n
The epicenter was near the archipelago of Mentawai where a 7.7-magnitude quake in 2010 caused a tsunami which killed over 400 people.\n<\/p>\n
However, no tsunami warning was issued after Saturday\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s quake and there were no immediate reports of damage.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cJudging from the quake’s magnitude and the distance from the epicenter to the land, I don’t think the quake will have a significant impact,\u201d said an official from the local meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00c5\u201cThere’s little potential to cause damage,\u201d the official added, saying that people in two provinces on Sumatra mildly felt the earthquake.<\/p>\n
The tremor followed a 6.1-magnitude inland quake on July 2 which hit Indonesia’s Aceh province, on Sumatra’s northern tip, destroying houses and causing landslides.\n<\/p>\n
According to the National Disaster Management Agency, so far 35 people have been confirmed dead from July 2 earthquake which also left some 16,000 people homeless.\n<\/p>\n
In 2004, a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.1 quake killed over 170,000 people in the natural disaster-prone province and tens of thousands more in countries around the Indian Ocean.\n<\/p>\n
Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes since it is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region where tectonic plates collide and cause recurrent seismic and volcanic activity.\n<\/p>\n
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