zondag, maart 18, 2007

Two earthquakes rock east Indonesia, no casualties

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Two earthquakes hit eastern Indonesian regions on Sunday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, a meteorological official said.

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale struck Papua province at 11:24 a.m. (0224 GMT), said an official at the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

It was centered 147 km (91 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Jayapura, at a depth of 78 km, the official said.

Earlier, a 5.9 magnitude quake jolted Ternate on the Moluccas islands, at 02.42 a.m. (1742 GMT). The undersea quake had a depth of 57 km and was centered some 126 km northwest of Ternate.

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Its 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

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