No tsunami expected from Sumatra quake

JAKARTA, March 5 (UPI) -- A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck in the sea off the coast of Sumatra Friday, but a widespread tsunami was not expected, experts said.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the tremor about 100 miles west of the Indonesian island at a depth of about 13 miles, The Australian reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no widespread threat of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

But there was "a very small possibility of a local tsunami," it said, "that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter."

"Authorities in the region near the epicenter should be made aware of this possibility," the center said.

Friday's quake occurred 400 miles southeast of the 9.1 magnitude Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake, which spawned a tsunami that claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.