Moderate Earthquake Hits Bali, No Tsunami Threat

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck north-east of Indonesia's resort island, Bali, at 4.01pm today, two days to the second anniversary of the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh alone.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department, in its alert, said the quake's epicentre was at coordinates 7.0 south 11.7 east in the Bali Sea, 251km from Bali's provincial capital Denpasar, and 1,170km south-east of Sibu in Sarawak.

It ruled out tsunami threats resulting from the quake.

At 5.59am Sunday, a tremblor of the same magnitude struck south of Indonesia's Java island, centring at 230km south-west of Jakarta.

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.