6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes off Indonesia's Sumatra

Mon, 17 Jan 2011

Jakarta - An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island early Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, meteorologists said.

The quake took place at a depth of 10 kilometers, located about 115 kilometers south-west of Bintuhan, the district town of Bengkulu province in southern Sumatra, or about 494 kilometers north-west of Jakarta. It occurred at 2:20 am (1920 GMT Monday), the Indonesian Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency (BMKG) said.

The agency said in a statement that the quake did not trigger a tsunami, and there were no immediate reports of injury or structural damage.

It was the latest of a series earthquake to jolt Indonesia in recent weeks.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, sits atop the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362782,earthquake-strikes-indonesias-sumatra.html.