Greg Rodgers Sumatra Earthquake 2012 By Greg Rodgers, About.com GuideApril 13, 2012

Many of you may have already heard: An 8.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the coast of North Sumatra on Wednesday, triggering Indian Ocean tsunami alarms for every country in the region.
The Sumatra earthquake was felt all the way to downtown Bangkok.
The earthquake, which was 268 miles away from Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra, was followed up by another 8.2-magnitude undersea quake. Banda Aceh was also near the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the devastating tsunami in 2004, claiming an estimated 220,000 lives.
Although this earthquake was strong enough and located roughly in the same place as the 2004 one, this quake fortunately failed to produce any waves higher than 31 inches. With the horrors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami still being fresh in many people's minds, panicked evacuations occurred from Penang, Malaysia, to Thailand. Tsunami alerts were later lifted by each country, however, residents remained on edge.
Fortunately, Wednesday proved to be a real-life test of the new tsunami alert system, which provided advanced warning and performed as expected.
On a side note, KFC has offered a formal apology for their distasteful post on their Thailand Facebook page of urging people to hurry home and order some fried chicken before the tsunami. The post was considered inappropriate and angered Thais who suffered through the 2004 tsunami.
With Indonesia's army of active volcanoes and an abundance of geological activity in the region, these things do happen. Read about how to stay safe while traveling and always get budget travel insurance before you go.