An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck West Sumatra of Sumatra Island in Indonesia on Sunday, injuring seven people and destroying scores of buildings.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck West Sumatra of Sumatra Island in Indonesia on Sunday, injuring seven people and destroying scores of buildings, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency and Disaster Management Agency said.

The quake struck at 14:38 Jakarta time (0738 GMT) with the epicenter at 43 km southeast Siberut of Mentawai Island in West Sumatra province and at a depth of 32 km under sea bed, head of earthquake department of the meteorology and geophysics agency named only Suharjono told Xinhua by phone.

The quake has no potential of tsunami, he said.

Spokesman of the disaster management agency Priyadi Kardono said that seven people were injured when an escalator collapsed in a mall shopping center of Ramayana in Padang, the capital of the province.

“All of them have been rushed to hospital,” he told Xinhua over phone.

The quake destroyed 20 houses and damaged one health clinic in the province, Kardono said.

“The quake only caused panic, residents rushed out of their houses,” officer of the provincial disaster management agency Muhrir told Xinhua over phone from the province.

So far three shallow after shocks with magnitude of 5.2, 5.6 and 5.5 rocked the province following the main shock with magnitude of 6.9 on Sunday, the meteorology and geophysics agency said.

The 5.2 shock occurred at 15:13 Jakarta time (0813 GMT) with the epicenter at 50 northeast Sipura of Mentawai in West Sumatra province and at a depth of 10 km, the agency said.

About ten minutes later, the 5.6 after shock struck with the epicenter at 81 km southwest Padang, the capital of the province and at a depth of 10 km, it said.

Some two hours later, the 5.5-magnitude quake hit the province with the epicenter at 65 km southeast Sibebrut of Mentawai of the province and at a depth of 10 km, the agency said.

The archipelago country, with over 17,500 islands, sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone so called the Pacific Ring of Fire, where two continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic movements.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet