Indonesia's Sumatra hit by quake, no casualities

Jakarta, Sep 24: An undersea earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale rattled Indonesia's Sumatra island today, close to the area that was shaken by a powerful quake nearly two weeks ago, the meteorology agency said.

The earthquake hit at 1345 IST, at a depth of 30 km (18.6 miles) around 225 km (140 miles) southwest of Sungaipenuh town in Jambi province, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. The meteorology department did not issue a tsunami warning.

More than 20 people were killed when the 8.4 magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra on September 12, which was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, setting off tsunami warnings in Indonesia and other countries in the region.

Indonesia, which is situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the ''Pacific Ring of Fire'', was hit by a huge earthquake in December 2004, triggering a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which killed more than 230,000 people in the region, including 170,000 Indonesians.

Reuters>