BANDA ACEH (Indonesia): No deadly waves or serious damage resulted from the two massive earthquakes off Indonesia on Wednesday despite tsunami warnings and instant alerts for evacuation.

Experts said the quakes of magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 did not have the potential to create gigantic waves as the friction between the Earth's tectonic plates occurred horizontally, which does not displace the seabed. This means that the chances of a tsunami were low.

Indonesia's 18,000 islands are prone to temblors because the nation sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of active volcanoes and tectonic faults.

In Wednesday's quake, the plates slid against each other, creating more of a vibration in the water and causing waves to rise up to 0.6m in places like Sabang and Meulaboh districts in Aceh. In contrast, mega-thrust quakes, like the one in Japan last year, cause the seabed to rise or drop vertically, displacing massive amounts of water and sending towering waves racing across the ocean at jetliner speeds.