Strong Earthquake Rocks East Indonesia; No Tsunami Alert

Jakarta, 4 Jumadil Awwal 1437/13 February 2016 (MINA) – A Strong and shallow undersea-quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale rocked East Nusa Tenggara in east parts of Indonesia on Friday, but it was not potential for tsunami, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

The USGS reported that the quake was at 6.5 magnitude with the depth of 30.5 km under seabed, according to its website.

The agency said the quake jolted at 17:02 p.m. Jakarta time (1002 GMT) with epicenter at 14 km southwest of Sumbawa Barat of East Nusa Tenggara and depth at 10 km under sea bed, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) reported, quoting an official of the agency who told Xinhua by phone.

“We do not issue a tsunami warning,” the official said.

The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

In 2004, a massive earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Most of the deaths were in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)