Indonesian earthquake

A powerful and shallow 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra Wednesday, but fears of significant damage subsided after initial tsunami warnings were canceled.

The U.S. Geological Service said the temblor was centered "in the ocean" at a depth of 6.2 miles, putting its epicenter at 500 miles southwest of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.

A spokesman for Basarnas, Indonesia's national search and rescue organization, told NBC News there had been panic in some areas after the quake but no reported deaths.

Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage. However no damage has been reported and a tsunami alert was canceled, said Andi Eka Sakya, head of Indonesia's Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics.

"In the southern tip of Sumatra no one felt anything, and in Bengkulu they only felt a small vibration, like a small car passing in front of their house," he told NBC News.