Strong quake hits West Papua, Indonesia

JAKARTA - An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck West Papua in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported here.

The US Geological Survey said that the quake was measured at 6.0 magnitude.

The quake happened at 17:51 Jakarta time (10:51 GMT) with epicenter at the depth of 55 km under sea bed, the agency said.

There has been no immediate report of damages or casualties so far, Hartje Robert, spokesman of the national disaster management and mitigation agency, told Xinhua by phone.

Indonesia sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire" vulnerable to quake and volcanic activity.