Earthquake hits Indonesian island: DMC issues alert warning to Lanka

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) warns that all coastal communities in Sri Lanka to be on alert due to a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake that hit off the Indonesian island of Sumatra this morning.

The International media reported that there was no tsunami risk.

DMC Assistant Director Pradeep Kodippili said it was only an alert warning and there was no need for evacuation of people.

The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) at 10:08 am (0308 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.