Indonesia lucky after tsunami warnings

Police moved people away from coastlines around the Indian Ocean after a powerful earthquake struck just off northern Indonesia and sparked fears of another devastating tsunami similar to that which occurred eight years ago.

After the devastation caused by the previous quake in Indonesia, the deputy head of emergency mitigation in northern Sumatra said people were panicking but damage was light and the waves never came.

 A massive quake and tsunami back in 2004 killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean with some 170,000 killed in northern Indonesia alone.

A new warning system set up may have passed a major test in alerting the region of the quake but roads were jammed with residents trying to escape.

Chief risk analyst at a Jakarta-based security firm Keith Loveard said that despite the warnings, it would be impossible to evacuate everyone in time.

Awareness was improved but Loveard said that more still needs to be done to educate through campaigns.