6.6-magnitude quake hits Indonesia: USGS

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit the northern part of Indonesia's Sumatra island today, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake struck at 12:55am local time at a depth of 52 kilometres, USGS said, with its epicentre around 400 kilometres southeast of Banda Aceh.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was too far inland to generate a tsunami.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity, and Sumatra is particularly prone to earthquakes.

Aceh was devastated when a 9.1-magnitude quake off Sumatra in December 2004 triggered a huge tsunami which killed more than 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

USGS initially gave a magnitude of 6.5 for Tuesday's quake.