A screenshot from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake map showing the epicentre to the temblor.
GEORGE TOWN: If you are a light sleeper, you might have been awakened by the sound of things rattling in your bedroom or your bed rocking gently at almost 5am on Saturday (Sept 24).
That is because a 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook the seabed 70km off Aceh in western Sumatra, about 400km from Penang island.
Seismology institutes around the world detected the quake at magnitudes ranging from 5.9 to 6.4 on the Richter scale.
It struck at 4.52am Malaysian time.
"I heard something rattling in my bedroom and woke up to look for my smartphone because I thought it was vibrating," said Pulau Tikus resident JY Shen, 28.
After groggily realising it had nothing to do with his phone, Shen said he began to realise his whole bedroom was gently shaking.
"My bed was rocking like a boat on calm waters," he said, adding that he lived in a seventh-floor apartment and felt the tremors twice.
Each time, he said it lasted less than a minute.
Strong earthquakes happen every few years near Aceh, at the northwestern end of Sumatra and are usually felt as tremors in Penang, especially for those in high-rise buildings.
