A powerful underwater earthquake has struck off the the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday damaged hundreds of houses, destroyed bridges and started fires in the costal city of Padang, witnesses told local television. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. “Hundreds of houses have been damaged along the road,” the Reuters news agency quoted a witness in Padang as saying. “There are some fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here maybe because water pipes are broken and there is flooding in the streets.
