11 injured, dozens of houses damaged in W Indonesia shallow quake

JAKARTA - Eleven villagers were wounded and more than 100 houses rattled as a shallow earthquake of 5.6-magnitude struck off Indonesia's West Sumatra province on Thursday, according to officials.

The quake was centered 38 km northeast of Pasaman town with a depth of 10 km, Aziz Widiarso, an official in charge at the meteorology and geophysics agency, told Xinhua by phone.

The natural disaster forced scores of people to evacuate in Solok district, spokesman of the national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

"A field health clinic has been set up, and makeshift tents are established to accommodate the displaced persons," he told Xinhua in a text message.

Risk assessment of the quake was being undertaken by disaster agency officials, Sutopo cited.

Indonesia is prone to quakes as it sits on a vulnerable quake-affected zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire."