An aftershock measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh, at early hours on Tuesday, causing a little panic among residents there.

An official of the Mata Ie geophysical station revealed that the quake at around 3:37 a.m. local time was located at 4.69 degree north latitude and 94.87 degree east longitude, about 108 kilometers west of Banda Aceh.

According to the official Antara news agency, the tremor whose epicenter was in the depth of 10 kilometers under the sea was felt stronger by the people living on Aceh's western coastal areas, especially in Banyak Island and Aceh Singkil.

A chain of aftershocks in the wake of the tsunami on December 26, 2004 as well as the powerful 8.7 earthquake were dominated by those with a distance between 80 kilometers and 300 kilometers with epicenters in the west, northwest and southwest of Banda Aceh. ��

The official predicted more aftershocks would still occur in Aceh in the next several weeks but they would not be dangerous and would not trigger tsunamis.

Meanwhile, some 1,575 inhabitants of Kuala Baru village, Aceh Singkil district, have reportedly fled to a nearby forest as they are afraid of possible tsunamis following aftershocks that rocked the area recently.

Most of villagers left their homes due to the persistent rumors saying more powerful quakes would occur. People in the district and the island feel tremors almost everyday in the past week. Data from the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Gunung Sitoli, capital city of Nias, showed there had been 190 aftershocks until Sunday.

Some 90 percent of school buildings in Aceh Singkil were damaged by the quake and almost 90 percent of about 78,000 people living in Simeulue island have also reportedly abandoned their homes following the quake.

Source: Xinhua