5.4 magnitude quake jolts Bengkulu

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - A 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook Bengkulu province on Wednesday morning but there was no immediate report of casualties or material damage.



The epicenter of the quake which struck at around 6.29 a.m. was in the sea about 87 km southwest of Bengkulu city at a depth of 10 km, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said in its official website.



The temblor was the second to hit the province in no less than a day.



A quake with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted the province at 03.11 p.m. on Tuesday. The quake was centered about 96 km southwest of Bintuhan in Kaur district, Bengkulu province, at a depth of 34 km.



Both quakes were not strong enough to trigger a tsunami.



Bengkulu is one of the areas in Indonesia prone to quakes. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.



The province was hit by a powerful quake with a magnitude of 7.9 in 2007, leaving tens of people dead and destroying thousands of houses with material losses estimated at hundreds of billions of rupiahs.



Earlier, a 7.3 magnitude quake also rattled the province in 2000 in which tens of people perished.



(ANTARA)

