A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra at 11:06 p.m. local time (16:06 GMT) yesterday but a widespread tsunami was not predicted.

The quake hit about 165 km west of Bengkulu, Sumatra at a depth of about 22 km, the US Geological Survey said.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was no widespread threat of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

But, it added, "there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicentre.

Authorities in the region near the epicentre should be made aware of this possibility."