Strong quake hits Indonesia's Sumatra

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-18 20:39:49

JAKARTA, MAy 18 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with magnitude of 6.0 rocked Bengkulu province in Sumatra Island of Indonesia on Sunday afternoon, but there were no reports of damage or casualty, the country's meteorology agency said.

The quake struck at 19:17 Jakarta time (1217 GMT) with its epicenter at 73 kilometers southeast of Mukomuko town in the province and with a depth of 15 kilometers bellow the sea bed, official of the agency Jajat Sudjatmiko said.

The intensity of the quake was felt up to the nearby province of West Sumatra, but the intensity was wholly weak, he said.

"The shakes of the quake was so weak that they caused no damage or casualty," he told Xinhua.

The intensity was felt at 1 to 2 MMI (modified mercally intensity) at Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra province, 2to 3 MMI in Bengkulu, the capital city of Bengkulu province and at1 to 2 MMI at Sungai Penuh town of the province, said Sudjatmiko.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The archipelagic nation was hardest hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004 which killed an estimated 168,000 people in Aceh province a lone.

Editor: Amber Yao

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