Large Earthquake sparks panic in Indonesia's West Papua*

Reuters
Sunday, January 6, 2008; 11:44 PM

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A 6.2 magnitude undersea quake jolted eastern
Indonesia on Monday, damaging some houses and sparking panic among
residents but causing no deaths, a meteorology agency official said.

The U.S. Geological Survey placed the strong quake, shallow at only 35
km (21.7 miles) deep, at an epicenter at 8 km (5 miles) north of the
coastal town of Manokwari in Indonesia's West Papua province.

"There are several houses on fire but we don't know yet how many
exactly," Fauzi, head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's
earthquake centre told Reuters.

"The quake could have caused a short connection that ignited fire or
stoves in use may have been tipped over."

Fauzi said the quake, which caused widespread panic among residents,
also caused cracks in many houses and building in Manokwari.

Elshinta radio reported that people rushed out of their homes in panic
towards higher ground, although no tsunami warning was issued.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a very active
seismic region where several tectonic plates meet, and is subjected to
frequent tremors.

(Reporting by Mita Valina Liem and Adhityani Arga in Jakarta and Sandra
Maler in Washington, Editing by Sugita Katyal and Alex Richardson)