Indonesia Earthquake Triggers Panic But No Tsunami

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -- A strong earthquake struck Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province Wednesday, shaking buildings as terrified residents fled for higher ground in cars and on foot while police shouted "Tsunami! Tsunami!''

Entire families jumped aboard nearby scooters and passing vehicles and sped off, snarling traffic on the main two-lane thoroughfare. Some headed to mosques, whose sturdy foundations and upper floors offered protection from the killer waves in the Dec. 26 disaster. Women screamed and sobbed.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The 6.2-magnitude tremor struck about 8:30 p.m. and was centered beneath the Indian Ocean floor, about 65 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the Banda Aceh Geophysics Center said.

The U.S. Geological Survey registered slightly different readings, estimating the quake's magnitude at 5.7 and its epicenter about 50 miles southwest of Banda Aceh. A magnitude-6 quake can cause widespread damage if it is centered in a densely populated area.

The shaking lasted less than five seconds and was felt across a wide swath of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Even before the tremors subsided, police officers and soldiers began shouting "Tsunami! Tsunami!'' causing mayhem for about a half hour.

Panicked residents evacuated buildings and raced in cars and on foot for the highest ground, a hill on the outskirts of the city.

At one mosque, where dozens of frightened residents had gathered, officials urged calm.

"Do not panic. God willing, nothing serious has happened,'' a voice said over the loudspeaker.

Aftershocks have hit the region frequently since the December earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 9.0, and the following tsunami that killed more than 160,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean nations. Most of the victims were in Aceh province, closest to the epicenter.

Also Wednesday, a powerful earthquake rocked the Pacific seabed near Vanuatu island, but there were no immediate reports of damage. A Pacific warning network issued a bulletin saying the 6.7-magnitude quake did not generate a tsunami.

Although Vanuatu is on the same tectonic plate as Sumatra, the temblor was not connected with the Dec. 26 quake, seismologists said.

On Sri Lanka, Tamil Tiger rebels canceled a key meeting with international donors -- a move threatening reconstruction efforts.

The rebels had complained that aid supplies weren't reaching them and blamed the government for the killing of one of their top leaders as he finished overseeing reconstruction efforts in a rebel stronghold in eastern Sri Lanka, one of the regions hardest hit by the killer waves. The government denied involvement in Tuesday's killing.

Tens of thousands of people are still missing, though officials say it's too early to add them to the toll with bodies still being pulled from the rubble. Indonesia said Wednesday it had found 640 more corpses, raising the country's confirmed death toll to at least 116,396.

Some 40 ethnic Chinese in Aceh prayed Wednesday at a temple to mark the Lunar New Year in a somber version of what normally is a raucous, joyous holiday.

The worshippers, from bent, old women to infants in scarlet brocade vests, filled the Vihara Dharma Bhakti temple in the provincial capital. They lifted bundles of joss sticks, and bowed toward altars in glass cases.

"We feel a great emptiness inside, but we're here to give thanks for our protection and to pray for the forgiveness of sins and peacefulness of those who died,'' said Lai Nier Sin, a hairdresser whose business and older brother's family were washed away in the tsunami.

About 1,000 of Aceh's 5,000 Chinese-Indonesians were killed in the disaster.