Quake strikes eastern Indonesia: seismologists

JAKARTA (AFP) – A strong 6.4-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's remote eastern Sumba island on Monday, the geophysics agency said.

The quake struck at 7:52 pm (1052 GMT) with an epicentre 107 kilometres (67 miles) northwest of the main island town of Waingapu, the Jakarta Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

It was measured at a depth of 86 kilometres.

The United States Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 6.1.

Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 that killed more than 220,000 people, including over 168,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province and Nias island.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Nearly 700 homes as well as office buildings, schools and health clinics were damaged when a 7.2-magnitude quake struck the remote Talaud Islands in North Sulawesi province in February.