Strong earthquake rocks Aceh, no damage or injuries reported
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-11 11:29

A strong earthquake rocked Indonesia's tsunami-battered Aceh province, causing residents to flee their homes in panic, seismologists said Sunday, AP reported.

The magnitude-5.7 earthquake was centered under the Indian Ocean, about 211 kilometers (131 miles) southwest of the province capital Banda Aceh, said Sutiono, an official at the Jakarta office of Meteorological and Geophysical Agency.

The tremor occurred at 11:57 p.m. (1657 GMT Saturday) at a depth of 33 kilometers (21 miles) beneath the Earth's surface, added Sutiono, who goes by a single name.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the quake at magnitude 5.9.

Officials at the local geophysical office in Banda Aceh said the quake lasted about one minute. Residents of the city ran out of their homes in panic after the tremor jolted them awake, Sutiono said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

A magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on December 26 killed more than 131,000 people in Indonesia and left a half-million homeless, mostly in Aceh.

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