Pekanbaru, Riau Province (ANTARA News) - The Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) released a tsunami warning to five provinces in the coastal areas of Sumatra island covering Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Lampung on Wednesday.

The statement was released after an 8.5 Richter scale of earthquake hit Simeulue district, about 180 nautical miles to the south of Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province on Wednesday at 03.38 pm Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).

The BMKG said the earthquake is centered at 364 kilometers of Simeulue district at the depth of 10 kilometers.

On January 30, 2012, an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted Simeulue, Monday evening, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said here on Monday night.

On December 26, 2004, 9.3-magnitude quake hit Aceh province and Nias Island in North Sumatra that caused tsunami, leaving hundreds of people died and went missing.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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