Series of Earthquakes shake Sumatra

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

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Great Earthquakes In Diverse Places

Series of Earthquakes shake Sumatra*

From correspondents in Jakarta

May 22, 2008 04:51pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse

A SERIES of moderate quakes shook the western coast of Indonesia's
Sumatra island today, but there was no risk of a tsunami, the
meteorology and geophysics agency said.

Three moderate quakes hit Bengkulu province over a period of three hours
early today with the strongest, a 5.8-magnitude quake, striking at
5.22am (8.22am AEST) today, the agency said in a statement.

The strongest tremor struck at a depth of 20 kilometres under the
seabed, 105 kilometres south-west of the city of Bengkulu. The US
Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.6.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Two other quakes with magnitudes of 5.3 and 5.4 hit around the same
location at 3.17am and 6.23am local time, respectively.

Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the quake-triggered Asian tsunami
in December 2004, which killed 168,000 people in the country's Aceh
province alone.

A 8.4-magnitude quake hit western Sumatra in September, killing 23
people. It was followed by a series of major aftershocks.

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