Indonesia - earthquake

Seventy-five dead, thousands trapped in Sumatra quake

Article published on the 2009-09-30 Latest update 2009-09-30 17:34 TU

The earthquake struck north-west of Padang, on Sumatra
(Photo: WikiMedia Commons)

A powerful 7.9-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island Wednesday, with 75 confirmed deaths and reports of thousands more people trapped beneath rubble. Hospitals and hotels crumbled in the coastal city of Padang, home to nearly a million people.

The quake struck at sea at 1016 universal time, 53 kilometres north-west of Padang city in West Sumatra province, the United States Geological Survey said.

Communications cut off in Padang, a city of 900,000, where panicked residents had run onto the streets as the quake hit.

Padang lies near the colliding Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The city is most at risk from a final segment along the zone shifting to unleash a massive amount of energy.

The zone's other segments have already cracked, including a large portion off Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, which triggered the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed more than 220,000 people.

Wednesday's quake was felt in the capital Jakarta 940 kilometres away, and on the west coast of Malaysia, separated by the narrow Malacca Strait. In the capital Kuala Lumpur, hundreds of people ran out of their office buildings.

A quake on the main island of Java earlier this month killed 123 people.