One Dead, Seven Injured in Aceh Earthquake

Banda Aceh, Aceh province (ANTARA) - One dead and seven injured following an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale that hit Pidie district at 05.26 am on Tuesday. "A nine-year old girl died after her house was collapsed due to earthquake," Aceh province's Chief of Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Jarwansyah said here on Tuesday. A major earthquake 6 on the Richter scale on Tuesday caused panic in the coastal city of Banda Aceh, awakening the people still asleep early this morning. The quake hit at 05.22 local time with epicenter in the sea 84 kilometers deep , 150 kilometers southwest of the capital city of Aceh. Many people rushed out of their houses in panic, but no immediate report of casualty and damage to property caused by the quake. "Every time there is a quake we always rush out to be away as far as possible from the coast fearing tsunami," Wahidi, whose house is in the coastal village of Lampoh Daya. Many people in Aceh still have the trauma of devastating tsunami, which left more than 200,000 people dead in the province in December 2004. The village of Lampoh Daya was among the hardest hit by the tsunami . "We feel safe only after there is announcement that the quake would cause no tsunami," Harris, another resident of the village said. The people were warned with siren if a quake was potential to cause tsunami, he added.(*)