A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday but there was no tsunami risk, seismologists said as residents fled their homes.

The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) at 10:08 a.m. (03:08 GMT) 73 kilometres west of Bengkulu, according to the United States Geological Survey.

"The earthquake was quite strong and shallow, it was felt all the way to Padang, West Sumatra, but there was no threat of a tsunami," Mochammad Riyadi, an official at Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency told AFP.

source:Wam