Magnitude 7.8 strikes off Indonesia coast, tsunami warning issued

PanARMENIAN.Net - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Wednesday, March 2, off the coast of Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey said, according to CNN.

The quake was centered in the Indian Ocean about 410 miles (660 kilometers) southwest of Muara Siberut and roughly 500 miles west-southwest of Padang, which is on the west coast of Sumatra, the Asian archipelago nation's largest island.

The USGS' preliminary report indicated the earthquake struck 6 miles deep.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a U.S. government agency, tweeted about a "potential tsunami threat."

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology sounded a similar alarm, issuing a tsunami warning for the Cocos Islands, which are about 530 miles south-southeast of the quake's epicenter.

Large earthquakes are relatively common in and around Indonesia, which is part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.