6.3-magnitude quake hits Sumatra coast

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rattled western Sumatra on Friday, the local Meteorological and Geophysics Agency said, causing frightened residents to flee their homes.

There were no reports of damage or casualties in Bengkulu province, about 370 miles west of the capital Jakarta.

The jolt, in the same area shaken by an 8.4 quake in September that killed 25 people, did not trigger a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey put Friday's tremor at a magnitude 5.9.

The shaking sent residents running out of their houses in panic, witness Silahuddin, who like many Indonesian uses only one name, told El-Shinta radio.

Indonesia, which straddles a series of active fault lines, is prone to seismic and volcanic activity. A giant earthquake along the same coast spawned the large tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a number of countries in December 2004.