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Quake rattles eastern Indonesia
No immediate reports of casualties as earthquake hits Papua province.
Last Modified: 22 Dec 2007 09:39 GMT

A strong earthquake has rattled the eastern Indonesian province of Papua, meteorologists said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

 

USGS had earlier said the quake measured 6.6 on the Richter scale.
 
An official at Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency said a weaker aftershock followed the initial quake, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

"The quake was pretty strong. If it had struck a village or a town it would have had an impact," Suhardjono, an agency official, said

   

Quake prone

 

Strong quakes are common in this part of Indonesia, but most strike the unpopulated highlands of the remote area.

   

"So far we have not received any reports [of casualties or damage] but the quake was mildly felt in parts of Jayapura."

    

Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, being located in a very active seismic region where several tectonic plates meet.

 

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

 

Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed 168,000 people in Aceh province alone.

Source:
Agencies
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