Strong shallow quake strikes off E. Indonesia
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A powerful shallow quake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted eastern parts of Indonesia on Monday evening, but there were no initial reports of damages or casualty and a warning for tsunami, officials reported.
The quake struck at 21:31 p.m. Jakarta time (1431 GMT) with epicenter at 178 km southeast Tahuna of North Sulawesi province and with the depth at 10 km under sea bed, an official of the local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency told Xinhua by phone.
The intensity of the quake was felt at 5 MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) in Manado city, the capital of the province and 4 MMI in Ternate of the nearby central Sulawesi province, the official said.
"We did not issue a tsunami warning, as the quake was not potential for tsunami," he said.
The USGS reported on its website that the quake was measured at 6.2 on Richter scale.
Local official of Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency told Xinhua by phone that there were no immediate reports of casualty or collapsed buildings.
Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire," where two continental plates meet frequently that cause seismic and volcanic movements.
