Tsunami warning issued, evacuations begin after 7.9 earthquake near Indonesia

Early tsunami alert issued

The US Geological Survey registered an 8.2 magnitude earthquake southwest of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. That's a very large earthquake.

The USGS is warning of a potential tsunami.

The epicentre is listed at 763 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur. That shouldn't be any threat to the city because it's sheltered by the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia.

Update:

The USGS has revised the estimate to an 8.1 magnitude.

Update 2:

Indonesia's national meteorological agency has issued an early tsunami warning.

It's being described as a powerful and shallow earthquake with an epicentre 808 km southwest of Padang, Indonesia, which probably puts it a bit south of my guestimate. But with a tsunami it doesn't really matter where the epicentre is.

Update 3:

Here's an updated map from the USGS that now shows the magnitude at 7.9. It's common for changes in magnitude sizes as more data arrives.

Update 4: Residents are being evacuated to higher ground. The Mentawai islands are especially vulnerable. It's a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra.