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Saracens believe they are not far from signing Wales’ two-time Grand Slam winner Gavin Henson from Ospreys.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The first strike went ahead on Saturday Firefighters in London are to strike on Bonfire Night in a row over new contracts, their union has said.
The 47-hour action is the third strike date announced since the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) said 79% of its members voted in favour of industrial action.
They say the dispute centres on plans to scrap current rotas and force staff to sign new contracts or face the sack.
London Fire Brigade said changes were needed so the public would remain protected while budgets were squeezed.
Crews staged an eight-hour strike on Saturday and another is planned for Monday 1 November.
The FBU said thousands of its members will walk out from 1000 GMT on 5 November until 0900 GMT on 7 November.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said they had been left with no choice.
“The alternative is to allow London’s firefighters to become doormats for their employers to walk on,” he said.
“The long-term safety of Londoners depends on a well-trained, self-confident firefighting force. The chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Brian Coleman, issues calculated insults and says he’s relaxed and sacking all of them.
“He and the Commissioner, Ron Dobson, want to run the London Fire Brigade as though it were a Victorian mill. They want a frightened and obedient firefighting force. We simply cannot accept that.”
Urging the authority to meet representatives and come up with a solution he said: “There’s still nearly two weeks for the London Fire Brigade to get this right.”
Speaking during the strike at the weekend, Mr Coleman said: “This action is based on suggested cuts, but there are no cuts.”
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Charlotte was with a group of pupils from Edgehill College, now known as Kingsley School An inquest jury has returned a narrative verdict into the death of a teenage girl who drowned on Dartmoor.
Charlotte Shaw was training for the Ten Tors on 4 March 2007 when she fell into the fast-flowing Walla Brook and was swept away.
The 14-year-old was one of a party of 10 from Edgehill College in Bideford, now known as Kingsley School.
The Ten Tors, organised by the Army, involves teams hiking up to 55 miles (88km) across Dartmoor.
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Heavy smokers face a much higher risk of two common forms of dementia, one of the biggest studies to date shows.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ministers say a simultaneous poll will save money Ministers have been accused of not consulting the devolved administrations about the proposed date of a referendum on the Westminster voting system.
The 5 May 2011 date, the same day as national elections in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, has led to claims simultaneous polls will confuse voters.
Labour said the date had been “foisted on” the country for political reasons.
But Cabinet Office minister Mark Harper said there had been proper discussion and MPs backed the proposal in a vote.
He told MPs that responsibility for the administration of devolved elections ultimately lay with the UK government and ministers would do all they could to ensure the “smooth running” of the elections.
MPs are currently debating legislation required to pave the way for a referendum on the way they are elected and whether to change the current first-past-the-post system in favour of an Alternative Vote method.
During the committee stage of the bill on Monday, the coalition won a vote on the proposed 5 May date by 335 votes to 207.
The referendum pledge was a key part of coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats but the proposed 5 May date has angered opposition MPs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who believe it will detract from national elections there.
Tory MPs are also concerned about the arrangement, fearing it could distort turnout in the referendum as there will be no other elections in some areas of England and residents will have less incentive to take part.
Mr Bryant, shadow justice minister, said there had been an “extraordinary” lack of consultation with devolved assemblies about the proposed poll date and its impact on devolved elections.
“What we have added is one extra vote which has a simple yes or no. It is not a complex election system”
Mark Harper Cabinet Office minister
There was a “firm view” among these assemblies that the date was a bad idea and it showed a lack of respect to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, he suggested.
“It would just seem to be common human decency to be able to consult,” he told MPs, adding this “betrayed the rather London-centric view of the government”.
Although most Tory MPs are opposed to electoral reform and more than 40 have signed a motion calling for the 5 May date to be changed, they will ultimately be expected to support the bill.
For the government, constitutional reform minister Mark Harper said responsibility for elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was still a reserved matter.
He noted that there had been no “formal” motion in any of the devolved Parliaments criticising the 5 May date.
But he insisted there had been discussions between senior government ministers and the first ministers of the respective nations about the implications of the poll date and with the leaders of political parties in the devolved nations.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, and Conservative MP Eleanor Laing on electoral reform
“They have been raised,” he said. “Clearly the devolved administrations may still disagree – and probably still – with the decision the Westminster government has taken but these issues have been discussed.”
He rejected claims that voters would be confused by a multiplicity of polls, saying this had happened in the US for many years and the British public were “perfectly capable” of differentiating between the separate votes.
“What we have added is one extra vote which has a simple yes or no. It is not a complex election system.”
Concerns were also raised about the scope for confusion over postal voting procedures.
Mr Harper said anyone who registered for a postal ballot for general elections would be entitled to one for the referendum but several MPs said people in that position – yet who had not requested a postal ballot for local elections – would simply not take part in the latter poll.
Counting of votes in the devolved nations would take priority over the referendum, the minister added, and counting in the AV poll and the announcement of the result would probably not take place until 9 May.
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Rebecca Aylward was reported missing after failing to return home The family of a 15-year-old girl found murdered in woods say they are “shattered”.
Rebecca Aylward, from Maesteg, near Bridgend, was found in woodland near Aberkenfig on Sunday.
She died of head injuries, and South Wales Police have been granted an extra 36 hours to question two boys, also 15, arrested on suspicion of murder.
In a statement her relatives said: “As a family we are all devastated. Becca can never ever be replaced.”
Rebecca was last seen in Sarn Hill, Sarn, near Bridgend, at about 1230 BST on Saturday. She had been dropped off by relatives to visit a friend but failed to return home.
Detectives said they needed to speak to anyone who saw her subsequently.
A post-mortem examination has taken place and the cause of death was found to be as a result of head injuries.
The 15-year-olds who have been arrested are in police custody.
Colette Hume reports from the scene where the body was found
In a statement issued via South Wales Police her family said: “Rebecca, also known as Becca, was dearly loved by all her family.
“She will be sadly missed, she was a very happy young girl, she had an outgoing and bubbly personality.
“She was very motherly towards her younger brother and sister who absolutely adored her; they have been left devastated by her death.
“She had a wide circle of friends and was popular and well liked by all who knew her.
“All the family have been shattered by her death.
“As a family we are all devastated by her untimely death and wish to be left alone to deal with our grief in private.
Rebecca had failed to return home on Saturday evening “Becca can never ever be replaced.”
Chief Supt Carl Davies said: “This is a tragic incident and my heart goes out to Rebecca’s family at this difficult time.
“This will no doubt be a huge shock to the local community. A thorough and professional investigation will continue.
“I know the community in this area is extremely close knit.
“My appeal today is for anyone who has any information about Rebecca’s whereabouts during the key times to contact us.
“As a police service we will utilise our extremely strong community links to piece together every snippet of information.
“Please speak to us if you have any information, no matter how small.”
Police appealed for anyone who saw Rebecca on Saturday to come forward A help and advice line for anyone affected by the death has also been set up on 01656 724057.
Rebecca was a pupil at Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School, which said it was “deeply shocked”.
Father William Isaac, in a statement for Rebecca’s school in nearby Tondu, said: “We are all deeply shocked and saddened by what has happened.
“Archbishop McGrath Catholic School is part of our larger Catholic family.
“Our love, thoughts and prayers go out to Rebecca and her family and friends at this very sad time.
“We are co-operating with all the agencies, including South Wales Police and Bridgend council, to provide support to all those affected by this great tragedy.”
Two 15-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Derek Lewis, who lives near the edge of the woods, said the spot was a popular gathering place for youngsters.
Mr Lewis, 52, said: “I’ve been living here 40 years. It’s a regular place for youngsters to be. I’ve seen youngsters [aged] 10, 15 years going in there when it’s dark.
“They get boisterous, but we’ve never had trouble. You can hear them laughing.”
His sister Denise, 46, described how police arrived at the scene on Sunday morning.
She said: “There were helicopters right over the top of us. We were in the garden and everything was going on.
Friends have been leaving tributes to Rebecca at the scene “We saw all the police turn up. They were stopping traffic up the lane. Then the police were in the woods. It’s really sad.”
Local councillor Phil White called the teenager’s death “shocking and sad”.
He said: “My thoughts go out to the family, this is devastating for them.
“This is a small community and the community will be choked hearing this news this morning.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room at Bridgend Police Station on 01656 679585 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Victoire Ingabire has been a vocal critic of the Rwandan government Rwanda’s opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has appeared in court accused of working with a terrorist group, after her arrest earlier this month.
Prosecutors said they had more evidence that she colluded with an ex-officer of a Hutu militia to buy and distribute weapons to threaten national security.
Ms Ingabire said the charges were a fabrication and politically motivated.
She returned from exile in January to stand in August’s election, but was barred from running.
The Unified Democratic Forces party leader was arrested in April on the same charges – of collaborating with a terrorist group and propagating ethnic division.
She was granted bailed but was rearrested earlier this month after the capture of Major Vital Uwumuremyi, once a senior officer in charge of police affairs for the FDLR Hutu militia.
The authorities say he was caught on 13 October trying to cross over the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the FDLR is based.
In court on Monday, prosecutors said that while Ms Ingabire was on bail, she had continued with terrorist activities.
The BBC’s Geoffrey Mutagoma in Kigali says Maj Uwumuremyi appeared as a prosecution witness.
He told the court he had been in communication with Ms Ingabire while she was on bail – and had had dealings with her beforehand.
If she is found guilty of all the charges, she is likely to get a life sentence, our reporter says.
Ms Ingabire is a Hutu and most of the 800,000 people killed in the 1994 conflict were ethnic Tutsis.
President Paul Kagame, the former rebel leader whose Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) put an end to the genocide, won a second term in office in August with 93% of the vote.
The court in Kigali is due to decide on Tuesday whether Ms Ingabire should be granted bail.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mushroom foraging could be threatening the ecology of woodlands.
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A coronor calls for safety improvements to the Dartmoor Ten Tors after a jury returns a narrative verdict on the death of a schoolgirl.
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Strikers reimposed a blockade of a fuel depot on Monday as the authorities tried to restore supplies Strikes against pension reforms are costing France between 200m and 400m euros (£350m, $561m) per day, says Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.
She told French radio that the disruption threatened the country’s fragile economy recovery.
Parliament is expected to bring into law on Wednesday an increase in the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.
But fuel shortages are continuing and the unions have called another day of national strikes on Thursday.
Authorities struggling
France’s 12 oil terminals are still out of action, although workers at two of them are expected to call an end to their fortnight-long strike on Monday.
The union of independent petrol importers said that one in three petrol stations was in difficulty.
The authorities are struggling to reopen fuel depots. On Monday, port workers and dockers regained control of the biggest oil depot in the south of France, at Fos-sur-Mer.
Reports said riot police looked on as around 200 demonstrators prevented petrol tankers from entering the facility.
Elsewhere, a week-long blockade was said to have been lifted at a depot near Tours in central France.
“We shouldn’t be weighing down this recovery with campaigns that are painful for the French economy”
Chrisine Lagarde French Finance Minister
The French finance minister said the shortage of fuel and the widespread protests were clearly taking their toll.
“Today, we shouldn’t be weighing down this recovery with campaigns that are painful for the French economy and very painful for a certain number of small and medium-sized businesses,” Ms Lagarde said.
A strike at the port of Marseille has entered its 30th day and around 70 ships lie moored off the coast.
A protest by refuse collectors in Marseille, which has left thousands of tonnes of rubbish abandoned in the streets, is said to have spread to other cities.
Reports say the biggest rubbish treatment centre in France, at Ivry-sur-Seine, has been blockaded for the past three days.
Students are due to stage further protests on Tuesday and the unions say there will be further national strike days on 28 October of strikes on 6 November if President Nicolas Sarkozy does not withdraw the pension law or open negotiations.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
It is claimed Mr Sheridan attended a swingers’ club in Manchester A childhood friend of Tommy Sheridan has told a court that he went to a club in Manchester with the former MSP.
Gary Clark said he remembered the club showing pornography on TV screens. The jury earlier heard allegations that Mr Sheridan attended a swingers club.
The former Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) leader, and his wife Gail, both 46, are on trial accused of perjury.
They deny lying in Mr Sheridan’s successful defamation action against the News of the World in 2006.
Mr Sheridan won £200,000 in damages after the newspaper printed allegations about his private life, claiming he was an adulterer who had visited a swingers club.
Following a police investigation, the former MSP and his wife were charged with perjury.
“It was a wee bit more unusual than any other club I had been in before. There was pornography on the TVs around the club”
Gary Clark Witness
Giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, Mr Clark told how he got to know Mr Sheridan when they were growing up in the city’s Pollok area.
They lost touch after leaving school, but Mr Clark said he got back in contact while Mr Sheridan was in jail for “defending his principles”.
The pair renewed their friendship and socialised with their wives and other friends, including SSP members Keith Baldassara and George McNeilage.
Mr Clark told the court how his wife left him on his birthday on 13 September 2002.
He said he then “turned to alcohol” and was “particularly depressed” during what was “a low time” in his life.
The former footballer was asked by Prosecutor Alex Prentice if he had ever met Katrine Trolle – a previous witness who claims to have had an affair with Mr Sheridan.
Mr Clark said he had met her while driving in his car with Mr Sheridan, Andy McFarlane and Anvar Khan – a journalist who claimed she went to a swingers club with aN MSP.
Mr Clark said Mr Sheridan was behind the wheel in what was a “fairly long” journey to Manchester.
Asked where he went in the city, the witness replied: “Went to a club. I did not know what it was called at the time. I can recall arriving there, walking up the stairs and going in.”
Mr Clark said Mr Sheridan was with him when the group entered the club.
“Once we were in. It was a wee bit more unusual than any other club I had been in before,” he said.
“There was pornography on the TVs around the club.”
When Mr Clark was asked if he could recall anything unusual about the club, he said: “It was not showing Tom and Jerry on the TVs.”
It is alleged that Mr Sheridan made false statements as a witness in his defamation action against the News of the World on 21 July 2006.
He also denies another charge of attempting to persuade a witness to commit perjury shortly before the 23-day legal action got under way.
Mrs Sheridan denies making false statements on 31 July 2006, after being sworn in as a witness in the civil jury trial at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
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The inquests at the Royal Courts of Justice into 52 deaths are expected to last five months A Tube driver whose train was blown up by one of the 7 July bombers raised the alarm using his mobile phone as his radio was not working.
Timothy Batkin said he had checked with passengers on the Aldgate train if they had a mobile phone signal.
He told the inquest into the 2005 atrocities that the cries for help still made his “blood run cold”.
Another survivor told the inquest she had lashed out at firefighters who were not going down to help.
Lawyer Melanie O’Dell said the only people she saw on the tracks were two London Underground workers, and she could not understand why the firefighters were standing around at the station.
She said: “We asked: ‘Why aren’t you going down there? There are people injured and dying down there’.
“Eventually one of them answered. He said: ‘Oh, there may be a secondary device down there. There may be a second bomb’.”
“At the time I wondered and I still wonder, how long do you wait? When do you decide it is safe if there is no-one down there?” she added.
Mr Batkin had only been working as a London Underground driver for about a year before suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer detonated his bomb on an eastbound circle line train, killing seven, near Aldgate station.
He said he felt a shockwave and the train came to a sudden halt as a passenger alarm was pulled.
When he tried to make a mayday call to his line controller, he found his radio was not working and he did not think to use a second tunnel telephone.
CLICKABLE Find out more about the victims of the Aldgate bomb attack.
Age: 34
Mr Baisden was standing right next to the bomber Shehzad Tanweer. The accountant worked for the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority and had recently set up home with his boyfriend, but also spent a lot of time looking after his widowed mother. He travelled to Liverpool Street from Romford, Essex, and got on the Circle line through Aldgate on his way to work in Westminster.
Age: 41
Mr Gray was a tax accountant who commuted to London from Ipswich. He was married with two children. One friend described him as “a gentleman of modest disposition, charm, courtesy and subtle humour and above all he was a family man”. Mr Gray was standing opposite Shehzad Tanweer.
Age: 48
Anne Moffat was head of marketing and communications for Girlguiding UK. She was standing in the middle of the carriage between both sets of doors, close to the bomber. She commuted from Harlow, Essex, to her office in Victoria.A colleague Muriel Dunn said: “Her loss is a terrible tragedy and she will be greatly missed.”
Age: 30
The Italian-born business analyst was preparing for her wedding when she was killed at Aldgate. She was standing in the carriageway opposite the bomber and the evidence indicates she died instantly. Her fiancé, Fiaz Bhatti, spent a week on London’s streets with a homemade missing person poster, hoping she may have survived.
Age: 21
Mr Ellery had recently started working for Jessops Cameras in Ipswich and was in London for a training course. First aiders tried unsuccessfully to save him at the scene. His father, brother and flatmate searched for him in London, until his death was confirmed. The family said he had been “a fun loving boy, full of enthusiasm for life”.
Age: 29
Miss Stevenson was a lawyer on her way to Hammersmith Magistrates Court. Her firm described her as “hard-working, conscientious and supremely able”, driven by her determination to represent the weak. She grew up in the Chelmsford area and had friends around the world. Her family said she was passionate about human rights and wanted to work for the United Nations.
Age: 24
Miss Taylor was on her way to work at the RSA. She commuted from Billericay, Essex, with her mother. June Taylor said they would always kiss goodbye at Liverpool Street. Then Miss Taylor would turn and wave until out of view. “I’m so very glad that the last picture I have of her is smiling and waving at me,” Mrs Taylor said.
He eventually raised the alarm by calling a colleague at Edgware Road using his own mobile phone before helping to evacuate up to 500 passengers.
Speaking at the Royal Courts of Justice, he said: “The passengers on the train, I could hear crying for help. It was a chilling, haunting cry for help.
“Something that still makes my blood run cold when I think about hearing it.”
The inquest heard Mr Batkin touched together two copper wires running along the Tube tunnel wall to shut off the power so that passengers could walk to Aldgate station safely.
The wires could also be attached to a telephone carried in every driver’s cab and used to contact the line controller, but he did not do this.
Mr Batkin said he had not been trained in first aid or what kind of information to give to senior colleagues in a suspected bombing or similar emergency.
He said the public announcement system on the train had probably been damaged by the explosion and he walked along the carriages telling people to get off.
He said he first realised it had been an explosion when he saw passengers who had made their way to the front of the train.
“When they reached me I could see their faces were blackened with soot and dirt and bloodied,” he said. “And their clothes were torn and shredded.”
The inquest also heard from a lawyer, who had been working on the London 2012 Olympic bid, about how she was blown from the Tube carriage.
Lawyer Thelma Stober was not supposed to be in work on 7 July Thelma Stober, who lost part of her leg and suffered hearing damage in the blast, said she was only heading into work because the city had won the Games the previous day.
Weeping throughout her testimony at the inquest, she said: “I thought of my son who was seven years old and, silly enough, I thought I wanted to continue my work on the Olympics.”
She told the inquest that as she lay on the tracks, she saw people coming towards the train.
“I put my hand up saying, ‘help me, help me, I don’t want to die’,” she said.
Ms Stober, a senior member of the London Development Agency (LDA), the mayor’s chief regeneration agency, recalled lifting someone’s hand from her head but not turning around to help him.
“He was lying there not moving. I assumed he was dead. But I could have held his hand and I didn’t,” she said.
Counsel to the inquest Hugo Keith QC told her there was nothing she could have done for the man.
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Andrew Ballard and Liam Grundy had arranged to fight A rugby player who broke a man’s jaw while dressed as a Chippendale has been told to pay him £1,200 compensation.
Andrew Ballard, 24, hit Liam Grundy so hard outside a Wigan nightclub on 26 December last year he needed two titanium plates inserted in his face.
The Barrow Raiders player and Mr Grundy had arranged to fight after a row earlier in the night, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Ballard, who pleaded guilty, was also told to perform 250 hours unpaid work.
The court heard that Ballard, a father-of-one, and Mr Grundy, who plays rugby for Rochdale Hornets, left the nightclub for a fight on a nearby car park after an altercation over a spilt drink.
Sentencing, Judge Bryn Holloway, said the assaults were out of character for Ballard who is also training to become an electrician.
The judge said the CCTV footage was “illuminating” and painted a “different picture” from the headline case against the player.
“He deeply regrets losing his good character, that this incident occurred and causing the injury”
Paul Temple Defending Andrew Ballard
He said it was “quite obvious to all concerned what was going to happen” when they left the nightclub along with Mr Grundy’s girlfriend, Kathryn Gleeson.
In the melee that followed Ballard pushed Ms Gleeson and bruised her arm. He also admitted assaulting her.
All were in fancy dress which is a Boxing Day tradition in Wigan.
Ballard was wearing a black bow tie and black trousers. Mr Grundy was dressed as a 1980s George Michael.
Ballard, of Lily Lane, Bamfurlong, Wigan, had no previous convictions and had never been cautioned or sent off in his career.
He turned himself into police custody and said he was acting in self-defence.
The player originally denied the two assault charges but changed his plea after the court told him he would not go to jail if he admitted the offences.
His barrister, Paul Temple, said the two men had simply gone outside for a straightener in which his client won.
“He deeply regrets losing his good character, that this incident occurred and causing the injury,” he said.
Mr Temple said the clash had “background” – in that Miss Gleeson was friends with Ballard’s ex-partner.
Ballard was also ordered to complete a 12-month community order.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Plan B won best breakthrough act while Florence Welch won twice Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, was a double-winner at the Q Awards in London taking best female and best track for You’ve Got The Love.
Kasabian were named best act in the world while surprise winner of best album was High Violet, the fifth release by New York band The National.
Paolo Nutini picked up best male and Bryan Ferry was named the Q icon.
Take That also made their first public appearance since Robbie Williams rejoined them in July.
The band, whose comeback single, The Flood, and new album, Progress, are both due out next month, won the magazine’s hall of fame award.
Take That, who were sneaked into the awards to avoid the red carpet, were led on stage by Gary Barlow to collect their award.
“I’d like to thank my boys . Extremely happy here. Looking forward to the next few years”
Robbie Williams
In their acceptance speech, Williams said he was “very happy to be back – first day and we’ve won an award”.
“I’d like to thank my boys. Extremely happy here. Looking forward to the next few years.”
Best new act went to folk band Mumford and Sons while US rockers Green Day won the live award.
Best video went to End Credits, by Chase and Status featuring Plan B, who also won best breakthrough act.
Plan B said the award was a surprise, adding: “I expect the worst, I expect people to ignore me and be down on me because that is what I’ve experienced.
“I’m a little bit unaware of how big it has got until other people make me aware of it.”
The Q classic album went to Band on the Run, by Wings, while the innovation in sound went to producer Mark Ronson.
There were also awards for other long-established acts including Madness, The Chemical Brothers, Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Britpop favourites Suede.
Suggs, of Madness, said the band had been “idle” for 30 years and that they were being rewarded for the laziness.
Singer Clare Maguire, 22 – currently on tour with Plan B – was tipped as the next big thing.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A major earthquake has struck off western Sumatra, Indonesian officials say.
A tsunami watch has been issued following the 7.5 magnitude quake near the Mentawi Islands at a depth of 33km (20.5 miles), officials said.
The epicentre was reported to be 244km (152 miles) south of the city of Padang.
There have so far been no reports of damage or casualties. Indonesia is regularly affected by earthquakes.
A statement from the Pacific Tsunami warning centre said that only coasts within 100km (62 miles) of the epicentre were at risk.
More than 1,000 people were killed by an earthquake off Sumatra in September 2009.
In June at least three powerful earthquakes struck the region, bringing down homes and leaving three people dead.
In December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off the coast of Aceh triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed a quarter of a million people in 13 countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, one of the world’s most active areas for earthquakes and volcanoes.
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