Indonesia has issued a tsunami alert after a major earhquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck near the province of Aceh. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck offshore, 214km south-east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh at 12.59 pm local time. It had a depth of 61.4km. The site is very close to that of the 2004 earthquake that triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed about 220,000 people. USGS said, there was thought to be no threat of a destructive, widespread tsunami. However there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100km from the earthquake epicenter.