The quake was also felt in Sri Lanka and the southern Thai holiday island of Phuket, both of which were hit hard by the 2004 tsunami.
Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.
According to the USGS, the 2004 quake struck about 155 south-southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth of 18.6 miles. Some 227,898 people were killed or missing presumed dead and about 1.7 million were forced out of their homes after the tsunami affected 14 countries in Asia and East Africa.
Indonesia's explosive geology explained
“This is the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake,” the USGS said in its summary about the 2004 earthquake.
“The tsunami caused more casualties than any other in recorded history and was recorded nearly world-wide on tide gauges in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,” it added.
The most severe earthquake since 1900 was of 9.5 magnitude and struck Santiago and Concepcion in Chile on May 22, 1960, triggering tidal waves and volcanic eruptions. Some 5,000 people were killed and 2 million made homeless.
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Tornadoman78:
tornadoman and tornadogirl like to kick box each other in my tornaolayzers and she dosent even mind getting hit