An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 rattled Indonesia's North Sumatra province Sunday, prompting a brief local tsunami watch, knocking out power and damaging some homes, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the afternoon quake hit 135 miles (220 kilometers) southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth at 38 miles (61 kilometers). Indonesia and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami watch for the area, but both canceled their warnings less than 90 minutes later. Fauzi, chief of Indonesia's meteorology agency, said the closest town to the epicenter was Meulaboh, where a small «tsunami wave» just 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) high was detected by a buoy off the coast. Fauzi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said the official tsunami watch had been canceled, according to a report of the Associated Press.
