NU Online News Service, May 10, 2:40 p.m. EDT

A relatively powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake offshore northern Sumatra, Indonesia shook buildings early Sunday morning, according to officials of Risk Management Solutions.

There have been no reports of significant property or casualty damage, although there was minor damage to the control tower of the Cut Nyak Dhien airport near Meulaboh, RMS officials said.

According to a transport ministry spokesman, this minor damage is characterized by broken windows and cracks in walls, but was not sufficient to disrupt airport operations, RMS officials said.

The quake Sunday caused slight damage and there was a power outage on Simeuleu. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The temblor caused residents to flee into the streets of this earthquake-prone region, and a tsunami watch was put in place for Indonesia; however, this was cancelled an hour later.

As of 10:00 BST Monday, there had been no reports of a tsunami being recorded in the region, RMS officials said.

The quake occurred about 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time offshore of Simeuleu Island at a depth of about 38 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to the USGS, some 404,000 people were exposed to intensity VII ('very strong') shaking on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale.

This level of ground shaking would be expected to cause moderate damage to resistant structures and moderate/heavy damage to vulnerable structures, RMS officials said.

The largest city within this region of shaking is Meulaboh (population 35,000) which is situated approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of the epicenter and is the capital of the West Aceh Regency of Indonesia.

A tsunami after a 2004 quake in the Indian Ocean caused an estimated 40,0000 deaths in Meulaboh.