Sumatra

Two Sumatran Orangutan babies have been put under protection after being rescued from attempted smuggling in Indonesia. (Source: Anadolu Agency)

Two Indonesian journalists who mediated a land dispute between a palm oil company and residents were found dead with multiple stab wounds near a Sumatra plantation, police said.

Verses from the Quran were recited by the children echoed from the loudspeaker of a white mosque located near the coast of Lampuuk in Lhoknga district of Aceh province in Indonesia's western Sumatra Island.

At least 15 people were killed in a ferry sinking near the Indonesian island of Java yesterday, local police said on Friday, quoted by the French press. The ship, with fifty people on board, overturned in a stormy sea near the island of Madura. The ferry, which the police believe was overloaded, overturned after it was hit by a high wave, writes "Sega."

Indonesian rescuers raced to find survivors Monday after a volcano-triggered tsunami killed at least 281 people, with experts warning the devastated region could be slammed by more deadly waves, reports AFP. 

The world's oldest Sumatran orangutan, which had 11 children and 54 descendants spread across the globe, has died aged 62, Australian zoo officials said June 19.

A powerful and shallow 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to US Geological Survey.

The epicentre was 502 miles southwest of Padang and it was 10 km deep. Up to now, there were no reports of damage or casualties.

Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning for the regions of West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh.

A massive earthquake struck on March 2 off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami, but initial fears of another region-wide disaster faded as tsunami warnings were cancelled. 

The death toll from the crash of an Indonesian air force plane packed with military personnel and their families rose to 142 on July 1, as witnesses described people fleeing the disaster zone covered in blood with their clothes alight.

A volcano in western Indonesia that has been spewing clouds of searing gas high into the air let out a new powerful burst June 10.

Authorities are closely monitoring Mount Sinabung on Sumatra, one of Indonesia's main islands, after placing it at the highest alert level last week.