Tsunami Warning After Indonesia Earthquake Lifted

Tsunami warning cancelled

The tsunami warning for the whole Indian Ocean was lifted hours after a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island Wednesday, sending terrified people fleeing from the coast.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami has "diminished or is over for most areas".

Tsunami waves of up to 80 centimeters (31 inches) were recorded, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of the 8.7-magnitude quake, which hit at 2:38 p.m. at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km), was at 434 km (269 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Panicky residents poured into the streets of Banda Aceh, which was near the epicenter of a 9.1-magnitude quake in 2004 which sent huge tsunami waves that killed 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.

Wednesday's large quake in Indonesia, as well as its aftershocks, occurred in a notoriously seismic area, where the Indian tectonic plate descends into the Earth beneath the Eurasian plate.