JAKARTA, May 14 (Xinhua) --- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 struck off the west coast of Indonesia's western province of North Sumatra on Friday, with no damage or casualties being immediately reported, officials said.

Earlier the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in a release put the undersea quake at a magnitude of 7.2 before revising it, Ali Imran, an official in charge at the agency, told Xinhua by phone.

The quake came at 1:33 p.m. local time (0633 GMT) with the epicenter at 141 km southwest of Nias Barat district and at a depth of 19 km under the seabed, he said.

"For this quake, no tsunami alert was issued as it was not potential for any tsunami," said Imran.

The intensity of the quake was felt at III to IV MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) in Gunungsitoli town, Nias district, Nias Barat district and Nias Selatan district, the official said.

The tremors were also felt in the nearby province of Aceh at III MMI, Imran said.

The jolts were felt strongly and triggered panic among residents, but did not cause damage or casualties, the provincial disaster management agency's officials said.

"The shakes were strongly felt here. The residents panicked and rushed to outside of their houses. But there were no damage or injuries," head of the disaster management agency of Nias district Elizaro Waruwu told Xinhua by phone.

Fahri Azhari, head of the emergency unit at the provincial disaster management agency, also confirmed that the quake caused no injuries among people and no damage to buildings in the three hardest hit districts of Nias, Nias Selatan and Nias Barat. Enditem

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