From Stuff.co.nz

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 has struck off the west coast of Northern Sumatra.

The quake occurred at 7.37am (NZT) at a depth of 29.1km, 423 km southwest of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, the USGS reported.

The Indonesian Government has issued a tsunami warning, however the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre advised there was no threat of a widespread destructive wave.

Local people in Banda Aceh ran away in panic from buildings after news of the quake, a witness said.

Indonesia’s meteorological and geophysics agency, which said the quake was 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale, routinely issued tsunami warnings for quakes over 7 magnitude.

The quake occurred in in similar area as the 2004 magnitude 9.15 Boxing Day earthquake which, combined with a resulting tsunami, killed 230,000 people.

The Pacific Tsunami centre says there’s no threat of a widespread wave, however local reports have issues warnings for the region where the tsunami occurred.

Let’s pray everyone is alright