Quake hits Indonesia
2008-11-22 20:00
Jakarta - A US geological agency says a strong earthquake has struck waters off western Indonesia.
The US Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude of the quake at 6.8.
It says the quake was centred 164km southwest of Bengkulu, a city on Sumatra island. It says it was 26km beneath the ocean floor.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that battered much of the Indian Ocean coastline and killed more than 230 000 people.
- SAPA