Intense earthquake hits off coast of Indonesia's Aceh

HONG KONG - An earthquake estimated at 6.3 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province on the island of Sumatra late Thursday, seismologists said.
The Hong Kong observatory located the undersea quake around 260 kilometres (160 miles) west of Medan city at around 0213 GMT. There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.
Aceh's coastline was devastated in December when a massive quake triggered tsunamis that spread across the Indian Ocean, killing 128,000 people in Indonesia alone.
The region sits on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire noted for its volcanic and seismic activity and has been rattled by daily aftershocks since the December disaster.
A huge quake in March off Sumatra left about 900 people dead.

04/28/2005 23:42 GMT