An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale rattled Banda Aceh and its suburbs last night but did not panic residents, Antara reported.

The quake which occurred at 10.28pm local time was mainly felt by people living in the southern coast of Aceh province, Aceh Besar district meteorology and geophysics agency head Syahnan said today, Bernama reported.

He said the quake's epicenter was located west off Nias island coast (North Sumatra province) and 16 km beneath the sea level.

The tremor was traced at 0.10 degrees north latitude and 97.06 degrees east longitude, he said.