Contact: James East and Hendro Suwito, World Vision Communications for Asia Pacific Region and Indonesia, 888-511-6548

MEDIA ADVISORY, Sept. 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- Indonesian television shows emergency workers gathering at the scene of a collapsed building in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, after a powerful earthquake measuring 8.2 struck near Sumatra island on Wednesday. The quake triggered tsunami warnings across the region. Residents of Padang fled for higher ground. Reuters/Reuters TV. A massive earthquake has rocked the western part of Indonesia, triggering tsunami alerts across the Indian ocean. The quake measured an 8.2 magnitude on the Richter scale.

Jakarta Shaken

World Vision's communications manager in Indonesia, Hendro Suwito, said buildings in the capital of Jakarta, some 300 miles from the epicenter, swayed.

"People rushed from tower blocks into the street, terrified that the quake could be a repeat of the massive earthquake that triggered the South Asia tsunami in 2004," he said.

Small Tsunami Reported, Wide Alert Issued

A "small local tsunami" of about two feet was later reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami alert for the entire Indian Ocean region following the latest quake. The quake was felt in provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Java, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. Indonesia, part of the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire," is frequently shaken by tremors.

Wednesday's earthquake struck at 6:10 p.m. local time, about nine miles under the seabed, some 60 miles southwest of the city of Bengkulu, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Global TV reported several buildings in Padang, the provincial capital of Indonesia's West Sumatra, had collapsed. Power was also blacked out.

Preliminary reports indicate that at least three people have been killed as a result of the quake.

World Vision Standing by to Help

World Vision's director in Indonesia, Trihadi Saptoadi, and World Vision's humanitarian emergency assistance manager, Jimmy Nadapdap, are monitoring the situation to see if a rapid emergency response is required.

The quake is the biggest to have struck Indonesia since the tsunami of December 2004.

The seabed off the Bengkulu province sits on the same vault range as Aceh. Some 230,000 people died in that tsunami and quake in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.

"Many, many people rushed out of the high-rise buildings in Jakarta, and one TV station broadcast the lamps swinging from the station ceiling," Suwito said. "Over the last two months, we have felt shaking several times, but this one was bigger than all those."

Two days ago, a much smaller shallow quake — six miles in depth — also rocked the eastern part of Java island, where several hundred houses were seriously damaged.