Indonesia issued a tsunami warning after a huge 8.9 magnitude earthquake off its westernmost province Aceh, leading panicked locals to scramble out of their houses to seek refuge.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said an Indian Ocean wide tsunami alert was in effect, after a quake that the US Geological Survey said was 308 miles southwest of the province's capital Banda Aceh.

The quake was felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand and India.

The province was devastated by a 2004 tsunami that left 170,000 dead or missing, and that in total killed about 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean nations.