At least nine people lost their lives and dozens were injured when a magnitude-8.4 quake and two powerful aftershocks struck Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.

The first magnitude-8.4 temblor jolted the island Wednesday and damaged numerous buildings, many collapsing. Frightened people spent their night on the streets, but two aftershocks rattled the same region early Thursday and spread panic among the residents.

Authorities in Padang, a city in western Sumatra, said many buildings weren’t able to withstand the first jolt and collapsed, several people being reported missing. Rescue teams are searching for possible victims trapped under piles of rubble.

The first magnitude-7.8 aftershock struck at 6:49 am (2349 GMT Wednesday) and was followed by another one measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale at 8:26 am (0126 GMT), the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta informed.

Two tsunami warnings were immediately issued, but were both lifted after there were no signs of the destructive waves.

Thursday’s first temblor had its epicentre at about 200 kilometres north-west of the city of Bengkulu, located in south-western Sumatra and 10 kilometres beneath the sea floor, the US Geological Survey said.
 
It was powerful enough to shake buildings in Singapore, reports from the region saying high-rising structures were swaying dangerously.

A tsunami could have emerged after this strong earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii warning fierce waves could strike coastal areas within 600 miles of the temblor’s epicentre. Authorities were advised to evacuate the high-risk areas.

The second jolt had its epicentre at a depth of 46 kilometres and 130 kilometres south-west of the Painan town in West Sumatra, the same Geological Survey informed.

Hundreds of buildings crumbled Wednesday across Sumatra after the first and most powerful earthquake struck at 6:10 pm (1110 GMT). A small tsunami was triggered by the quake off the west-central coast of Sumatra, but the wave didn’t cause any damage.

Several tsunami watches were issued in Indonesia and other countries in South-East Asia, but no wave was reported in any of the regions.

Nine people died and at least 50 were injured in Bengkulu province on the southwest coast of Sumatra and in the West Sumatra province, medical officials said, adding the death toll could rise after rescue operations are complete.

The United Nations have already sent a team to the calamity-struck region, along with humanitarian aid. The same region sustained massive damage several years ago when another fierce quake struck.

Three people were trapped under debris in Padang, the provincial capital of West Sumatra. Electricity and communications were disrupted in most of the regions.

The quake’s intensity was amplified in high-rise buildings, prompting the people working or living there to run scared into the streets in Jakarta, Malaysia and Singapore.

Wednesday’s temblor brought back the apocalyptic images of December 26, 2004, when a magnitude-9 quake triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, at least 230,000 people being killed in fourteen countries. About 177,000 people lost their lives in the northern tip of the island of Sumatra .