Re: Tsunami fear
LATEST
Up to 2,000 people are feared dead after a powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia - the same area devastated by the tsunami disaster in December.
A massive rescue operation is still under way after the quake, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, struck off the main island of Sumatra.
The tiny island of Nias of the coast of Sumatra bore the brunt of the quake and suffered the highest number of casualties.
Officials said around 70 per cent of the buildings there had been destroyed.
The tremor struck at about midnight local time and spreading terror across western Indonesia, Sri Lanka and coastal parts of India, Malaysia and Thailand.
As news of the quake emerged, authorities were warned to take "immediate action," including evacuating coastlines within 600 miles of the epicentre - 880 miles northwest of Jakarta and around 100 miles southeast of where the 9.3 magnitude Boxing Day quake hit.
But there are no signs of a tsunami and alerts have been withdrawn in most areas.
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