At least 500 residents of Pagai Island, one of the three largest islands in Mentawai Islands District, West Sumatra Province, decided to stay in emergency tents as aftershocks kept on shaking the island following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on February 25, 2008,ANTARA reported. "Up to now, local residents are still staying in emergency tents because they are worried as aftershocks continue to occur," a spokesman of Mentawai Islands District administration Elisa Seriparang told ANTARA on the phone on Thursday. The Padang Panjang meteorological and geophysics office of West Sumatra reported that a total of 171 earthquakes and aftershocks have shaken the province from January to March 6, 2008. Last February`s 7.2-magnitude quake had forced Pagai Island`s residents to flee their homes and they decided to stay outdoor up to now because aftershocks often shook the area, she said. The temblor killed two persons and injured two others. On Thursday (March 6), a tectonic earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale shook southwest Painan, West Sumatra Province, and the Pagai Island`s residents could feel the temblor at the first and second level of MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity). The epicenter of the earthquake was located at 2.37 degrees southern latitude and 99.64 degrees eastern longitude, around 153 southwest Painan, at a depth of 30 km below the sea level. West Sumatra was earlier also hit by a tectonic earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale last Monday (March 3).
