PADANG, Indonesia (Reuters) — People in the Indonesian city of Padang were back at the market on Thursday (March 3), returning to normal life after a massive quake struck on Wednesday (March 2) evening, which created and forced residents to flee to higher ground.
The quake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami, but initial fears of another region-wide disaster faded as tsunami warnings were cancelled.
Indonesian and Australian authorities called off their tsunami alerts within two hours of the 7.8 magnitude tremor. The quake did not destroy any buildings or cause any casualties in Sumatra.
By morning residents were back living daily life, with children going to school, and people shopping at the market.
“Yes because this is our daily need and we should go to the market whatever happens (REPORTER: Are you afraid with ongoing situation?) “Frankly I was a bit worried that it can happen anytime so we must stay alert for that,” Armen Chaniago said told Reuters as he did his shopping at the market in Padang.
A National Search and Rescue Agency official gave an initial report of some deaths, but later withdrew those comments. On its last announcement, the agency said there were no reports of casualties nor damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the earthquake’s magnitude at 8.2, revising it down to 7.8.
The epicenter was 808 km (502 miles) southwest of the coastal city of Padang. It was 24 km (15 miles) deep, it said, after first putting its depth at 10 km.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said a tsunami was unlikely.
With a series of aftershocks through the night and Thursday morning, Indonesian authorities called for calm.
The National Meteorological Agency said there were six aftershocks of decreasing strength during the night.
Indonesia, especially Aceh, was badly hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
A 9.15-magnitude quake opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean on December 26, 2004, triggering a wave as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) that crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries to wipe some communities off the map in seconds.
The disaster killed 126,741 people in Aceh alone.
Indonesia straddles the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.