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The huge quake hit about 101 miles (168km) south-southwest of the town of Jayapura, the US scientific agency monitoring earthquakes and natural disasters said. The massive tremor, which struck at 9.42am, affected also the country neighbouring with Indonesia, Papua Nuova Guinea. And it sparked fear the area could be also hit by a tsunami.

Local authorities haven't yet confirmed whether a tsunami alert is in place and the extension of the damages made by the earthquake. Jayapura is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Papua, with a population of 256,705, according to the 2010 Census. Two more earthquakes struck in Indonesia during the past 24 hours, USGS maps show. READ MORE: Ring of Fire 2018: Has earthquake activity SURGED on Ring of Fire this year?

Indonesia earthquake: A huge 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck in Indonesia

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit 21.7 miles (35km) north of Komodo at 4.12pm on Saturday. And a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck 127.381 miles (205km) north-northeast of Nabire at 2.13pm on the same day. Indonesia is still recovering from a devastating 7.5magnitude earthquake and the following tsunami that hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in September, killing almost 850 people.

Indonesia earthquake: Three earthquakes struck in Indonesia in the last 24 hours

The country sits on the notorious Ring of Fire, "a girdle of volcanoes and earthquake zones" in the Pacific Ocean, according to Professor Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at University College London. Speaking to Express.co.uk earlier this year, he said: “The Ring of Fire is a girdle of volcanoes and earthquake zones that circles the Pacific Ocean, and which marks the join between some of the planet's most active tectonic plates. “Almost all the of the world's most explosive and dangerous volcanoes are located here, along with the some of the longest and most deadly earthquake faults

Indonesia earthquake: The map shows the shape of the Ring of Fire