Earthquake of 7,6 Magnitude Shakes Indonesia

The USGS revised downward the earlier estimate of the earthquake's magnitude, which was 7,9. File photo

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7,6 struck Indonesia on Wednesday causing power and phone outages in some regions.

The information has been provided by the US Geological Survey, CNN reported.

The USGS revised downward the earlier estimate of the earthquake's magnitude, which was 7,9.

The quake was recorded at 5 pm local time about 33 miles from Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra, which is home to more than 800 000 people.

Padang is experiencing a blackout because of the earthquake, and phone lines are down, Indonesia's national disaster coordinating agency reported. The agency is unable to contact its local representative in the area.

The region is accustomed to earthquakes, and the local population has been trained to identify safe places in case of a tsunami, Sean Granville-Ross, the Mercy Corps country director for Indonesia said.

But if many homes have been destroyed in the densely populated area, people may be spending the night with no shelter, he said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a tsunami watch for Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia, but canceled it soon after.

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