JAKARTA: A strong earthquake struck Sunday off the coast of southern Sumatra in Indonesia, causing panicked residents to run from their homes but no major damage.
The US Geological Survey said the quake Sunday morning had a magnitude of 6.4 and occurred at a depth of 35 kilometers (21 miles).
It was centered 74 kilometers (46 miles) west of the coastal city of Bengkulu and also felt in Singapore, about 590 kilometers (370 miles) from the epicenter. It did not generate a tsunami.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the quake was felt for about 10 seconds in coastal cities and was strong enough to shake belongings from shelves and topple furniture.
Residents ran from their homes and there were power outages in some areas but no reports of casualties or structural damage to buildings, Nugroho said.
“The intensity of the earthquake felt mild to moderate,” he said.
Singapore broadcaster Channel NewsAsia said it received calls from residents in the city state who felt tremors.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to the seismic upheaval and tsunamis due to its location on major geological faults known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province in northern Sumatra.
Strong quake shakes Indonesia’s Sumatra; no major damage
Strong quake shakes Indonesia’s Sumatra; no major damage
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports five people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba
MADRID: Two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday in southern Spain, the rail network operator said, and state-run television channel RTVE said five people had died, citing police sources.
The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba. An unknown number of passengers have been injured, RTVE said, citing Civil Guard sources.
“The Iryo 6189 Málaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” Adif, which runs the rail network, said in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened about ten minutes after the Iryo train left Malaga heading toward Madrid at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT).
Iryo is an Italian-run private rail operator. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on their way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the train from Cordoba to Madrid, shared images showing the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage.
