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A major rescue operation was under way after a devastating earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leaving hundreds and possibly thousands of people buried in rubble and a major city cut off from the outside world.

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Today'smagnitude 7.6 earthquake – which came less than 24 hours after another fatal quake off the South Pacific island of Samoa – struck at 5.16pm. Its centre was reported to be around 30 miles offshore from Padang, a city of 900,000, at a depth of around 53 miles.

A German tourist, said he had been down at the beach when the quake struck.

"The sand began shaking on the ground and then it moved like a wave of thick water. We saw some cracks emerge in the soil and water come out of the ground like it was in Universal Studios," he said.