6.4 magnitude earthquake jolts Indonesia

As many as 18 houses were damaged in Indonesia's North Maluku province after a powerful quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted the country early Wednesday, officials said.

The epicentre of the quake was located 58 km deep and 124 km northwest of Ternate city in North Maluku province, an official told Xinhua news agency. The USGS reported that the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

"We did not issue a warning for tsunami for this quake," Wahyu Kurniawan, official of the meteorology and geophysics agency said.

The quake triggered panic in Ternate, Hallmahera Barat town of Maluku province, and Bitung and Manado cities of North Sulawesi province, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency said.

The damages took place in Batang Dua sub-district, the nearest area with the quake epicentre, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency told Xinhua.

Indonesia is prone to quake as it lies on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire".

--IANS

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