02 March 2016•Update: 04 March 2016
By Ainur Romah
TUBAN, Indonesia
Two strong aftershocks have struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island the day after after a powerful earthquake caused many residents of the island to flee for higher ground.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) Agency said in a release that tremblors of magnitude 5.3 and 5.8. rocked the Mentawai Islands on Thursday morning, but this time no tsunami warning was given.
Wednesday's earthquake measured 7.8 on the richter scale.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that President Joko Widodo had instructed them to directly monitor the impact of the quakes in Sumatra, even after a tsunami warning was lifted late in the night.
"The National Disaster Management Agency keeps on coordinating with its regional agencies in the areas along the West Sumatra coastal area such as the Mentawai islands, Nias and Simile," he added.
"The latest condition, there is no report about victims, damage or tsunami," Nugroho said later in the afternoon.
BMKG said the magnitude 5.3 tremblor Thursday morning hit 716 kilometers (445 miles) southwest of Mentawai at a depth of 10 kilometers, while the magnitude 5.8 quake struck 598 kilometers southwest at the same depth – also similar to that of Wednesday night’s magnitude 7.8 incident.
The Air Force deployed a Boeing aircraft Thursday to monitor the impact of the earthquakes in Mentawai.
