DISASTER // A tsunami warning was issued this April by Indonesia as an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit the waters of Aceh province. Tremors were also felt in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India. The powerful earthquake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometres) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometres) from Aceh’s provincial capital, said the US Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said that a tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore. The massive earthquake was followed by an aftershock of 8.2 Richter. Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines which makes it prone to volcanic and seismic activity. The giant 9.1-magnitude quake of 2004 which had triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean had killed 2,30,000 people.