6.4-magnitude quake jolts Indonesia's Bengkulu province, no casualties

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's Bengkulu province, authorities said, adding that no casualties or damages were reported.

The quake also had no potential to cause a tsunami, Alfath Abubakar, an official at the meteorology and geophysics agency, told Xinhua news agency.

The agency earlier reported that the quake was at 6.5-magnitude before revising it down to 6.4, he said.

The quake struck at 7.52 p.m. on Wednesday, with the epicentre at 80 km southwest Enggano Island and a depth at 10 km under seabed, Abubakar said.

The intensity of the quake was felt at II to III MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) in the island and II MMI in Bengkulu city and Kepahiang district, the official said.

In Enggano Island, the hardest-hit area, the jolts cause damages or casualties, said Welson Hendri, head of emergency unit of disaster management agency in North Bengkulu district where the island is located.

"I have called the head of the sub-district of Enggano, there were no buildings damaged or people injured. The situation was calm," he told Xinhua.

Earlier on Wednesday, a tsunami warning had been issued after a massive undersea earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck a region between Australia and Fiji and north of New Zealand.

The initial temblor was followed by at least three other earthquakes in the South Pacific region with magnitudes ranging from 5.7 to 6.1 in a span of over an hour.

This region, as well as Indonesia,are frequently hit by earthquakes as they lie on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire".

--IANS

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