Indonesia prepares after psychic predicts quake: officials

"Though we call it a rumour, we take this information seriously. We don't want people to blame us if it really happens," he said.

Another Bengkulu official, Fauzan Rahim, told state-run Antara news agency that he had seen a copy of the letter from Jucelino Nobrega da Luz, which predicted an 8.5-magnitude quake on Sumatra, but did not give an exact location. Sumatra is home to nine other provinces.

Antara said da Luz had sent a letter in 1998 predicting the tsunami that devastated Indonesia in 2004. He also issued a warning in 2006 forecasting September's 8.4-magnitude quake in Bengkulu, which left 23 people dead, it said.

A seismologist from the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency told ElShinta that no technology in the world could predict an earthquake.