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Indonesia
Sumatra Earthquake - Largest in 2007
JAKARTA -- (UPDATE 2) Nine people died and "hundreds" were injured in a powerful earthquake which struck Indonesia's Sumatra region on Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean, an Indonesian government official said.
The 8.4 magnitude earthquake also caused extensive damage to buildings along Sumatra's coast, according to Adam Malik of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Office.
"The emergency rescue system has mobilized and the president has ordered the military to help the rescue effort," he added.
Some buildings in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra had collapsed, witnesses reported, while Metro TV said some buildings had caught fire.
A Reuters witness said residents of Padang fled for higher ground.
"The city is in complete chaos. Everyone is heading to higher ground, I saw one house collapsed to the ground. I'm trying to save my family," said the witness in Padang, the provincial capital of West Sumatra, north of the tremor's epicenter.
A huge earthquake struck the same area on December 26, 2004, causing a massive tsunami and more than 230,000 deaths in countries across the region
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