Hong Kong's Hong Thai Travel Services decided Sunday to cancel two days of tours to Phuket of Thailand, which was affected by a strong earthquake in northwest of Indonesia.

A powerful earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale shocked many parts of Sumatera, Aceh in Indonesia around 8:00 a.m. Sunday.

The epicenter of the quake was located in Molabo, Aceh, the country's westernmost province. The quake-led tsunami has killed more than 1,500 people in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

At least four tourists died in the southern Thai tourist resort of Phuket in the quake.

Local radio stations reported that over 1,000 tourists from around 30 tourist groups are in Phuket now and no causalities have been reported so far.

A spokesman from the Hong Kong Airport Authority said in an interview with Xinhua that the Orient Thai has decided to cancel four flights to and from Phuket, Thailand scheduled Sunday and Monday.

Related Departments of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have contacted with Travel Industry of Hong Kong and the Chinese Consulate in Phuket. The Security Bureau is closely following the situation.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2004)