JAKARTA (AP): Strong earthquakes shook western andeastern Indonesia on Sunday, sending panicked residents fleeing from their homes. One of the tremors shook telephone and electricity poles and forced the evacuation of a hospital.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck waters off Sumatra island early Sunday and was followed 13 hours later by a quake with a preliminary strength of 6.7 on Sumbawa island, to the west, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The morning temblor rattled residents in Bengkulu, a coastal town 175 kilometers from its center. The region has been hit by a series of strong earthquakes and aftershocks in recent months, putting many on edge.
"It was very strong ... even utility poles were shaking," said Dina Ramadani, adding that people started screaming after one pole toppled over and crashed into a street.
Some ran to high ground, fearing a tsunami, and officials at one hospital in Jambi province told all patients to temporarily leave the building, treating some outside.
The late-night quake struck 44 kilometers from the upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including 160,000 people in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.
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