Strong 6.5 Earthquake hits Indonesia
Pastor Dale Morgan
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Thursday May 24, 9:49 AM Reuters
*Strong 6.5 Earthquake hits Indonesia*
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An undersea earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter
scale jolted central Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara island chain on Thursday,
prompting a brief tsunami warning, the meteorological agency said.
The quake struck near Sumbawa island at a depth of 19 km (11 miles) but
there were no immediate reports of casualties, Fauzi, head of seismology
at the meteorological and geophysics agency, told Reuters.
"We issued a tsunami warning because the quake was 6.5. We feel it has
tsunami potential since the depth was only 19 km in the sea," Fauzi said.
The agency recalled the warning a short time later.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake was of magnitude 5.5
and at a depth of 50.4 km (31 miles).
Thailand's Disaster Warning Centre said the quake measured 5.6 there and
no tsunami warning had been issued, while Malaysia's seismology agency
reported much the same.
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".
A devastating Insian Ocean tsunami triggered by a giant undersea
earthquake off Indonesia's Aceh province in December 2004 left hundreds
of thousands dead or homeless across the region.