JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A strong, shallow earthquake rocked Indonesia's central Sulawesi province Monday evening, injuring at least three people and damaging some buildings and houses.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.8 quake was centered in a thinly populated area 49 miles southeast of the provincial capital, Palu, at a depth of 6 miles.

The National Disaster Management Agency said buildings were damaged in Poso, a city to the southeast of the epicenter, and a number of houses and churches were damaged in nearby villages.

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At least three villagers were hospitalized for head wounds, it said.

The agency posted photos of damage in Poso on Twitter. One showed a collapsed building and another showed a convenience store with goods strewn on its floor but otherwise intact.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded 14 aftershocks of up to magnitude-5.2, also at a shallow depth. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface.

It said the land-based quake didn't have any potential to cause a tsunami.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location along the Pacific "Ring of Fire." A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.