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Strong quake rocks eastern Indonesia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-13 20:46

JAKARTA: An earthquake with magnitude of 6. 4 hit East Nusa Tenggara province in eastern parts of Indonesia on Monday afternoon, but no initial report of damage or casualty, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here.

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The quake truck at 17:52 Jakarta time (1052 GMT) with epicenter at 107 kms northwest Waingapu of the province and at 86 kms in depth, the agency said.

Spokesman of Disaster Management Agency Priyadi Kardono confirmed that there was no building damage or collapsed or fatality in the areas near the epicenter.

"We have checked about the possible damage or casualty in Ruteng, Manggarai, and Sumba. The quake did not cause any damage or casualty," he said.

He said that the shakes of the quake was weak in the areas.

"There are some people panicking," said Priyadi.

Indonesia, home to over 230 million people, sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone so called the pacific Ring of Fire, where two continental plates stretching from Western hemisphere to Japan meet that cause frequent seismic and volcanic movements.