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Powerful earthquake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning issued

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By Paul Watson,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
6:23 AM PDT, September 12, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A powerful 7.9-magnitude
earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra today, sending panicked
people into the streets as far away as Singapore.

The quake's
epicenter was beneath the sea 64 miles southwest of Bengkulu, in western
Indonesia. It was at a relatively shallow 9.7 miles beneath the earth's
surface, prompting a tsunami warning for all Indian Ocean nations, the
U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Related

-

NEIC: Recent Earthquakes Worldwide

But
40 minutes after the 6:10 p.m. quake, Budi Darmawan, a police officer who
is posted near the beach in Bengkulu, said most residents had fled their
homes to higher ground.

He had received only one report of a
building being flattened, while other builds were said to be damaged, he
told Indonesian radio.

With 1.5 million residents, Bengkulu is not
densely populated compared to other regions of Indonesia. Phone links to
the area were knocked out, making it difficult for Indonesian authorities
to make a quick assessment of the quake's effects.

More than 370
miles from the epicenter, buildings swayed in the capital, Jakarta,
sending office workers and residents in high-rises running into the
streets.

Indonesia, the world's most populous nation, is set to
begin celebrating Ramadan, a Muslim holy month marked by dawn-to-dusk
fasting that is due to begin Thursday.

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