Powerful quake hits Sumatra

September 12, 2007

Indonesia's Global TV reported several buildings had collapsed in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, while Metro TV reported some buildings had caught fire.Indonesia's Meteorological Agency said via an SMS alert that the earthquake's epicentre was 159 km (99 miles) south-west of Bengkulu in southern Sumatra.The head of the agency's seismology centre, Fauzi, said he had not received any report of a tsunami from the affected areas.Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes because it lies on an active seismic belt on part of the so-called Pacific 'Ring of Fire'.