8.7 quake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning issued

Indonesia’s geophysical agency has registered an 8.7 magnitude earthquake in the Aceh region, off the coast of northern Sumatra. A tsunami warning has been issued, the US Geological Survey reports.

­The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is monitoring the situation in the Indian Ocean.

The closest city to the quake’s epicenter 33 km beneath ocean floor is provincial capital Banda Aceh with a population of over 220,000, some 500 kilometers away.

Tremors from the earthquake have been felt in Singapore, Thailand and southern India, Reuters witnesses said.