Tsunami Alert Lifted in Indonesia Quake

Authorities in Indonesia called off warnings of a potential tsunami Tuesday after a shallow 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the western Sumatra coast. The U.S. Geological Survey put the epicenter at 500 miles south of the city of Padang. Officials in Western Australia alert called off their tsunami alert, as did Malaysia’s government. Indonesian President Joko Widodo was at a hotel in northern Sumatra when the quake hit, but has been reported as safe, according to The Straits Times. There are preliminary reports of fatalities; tens of thousands of Indonesians were reportedly scrambling to higher ground, as Jakarta pleaded for calm in the evacuations. In 2004, a 9.1 quake left as many as 220,000 Indonesians dead and 1.5 million homeless after waves ravaged coastal areas.