6.8 magnitude quake strikes off western Indonesia

An earthquake measuring 6.8 magnitudes rocked Indonesia’s western Bengkulu province on Wednesday.

However, no damages or casualty was reported, a disaster agency official said.

The quake struck at 5.29 a.m. Jakarta time with the epicenter at 78 kilometers southwest of Bangkulu Utara district and a depth of 11 kilometers under the sea bed, the country’s meteorology and geophysics agency (BMKG) said.

The intensity of the quake was felt at IV MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) in Kepahiyang district of the province, II MMI in Liwa, the capital of West Lampung district of Lampung province, II MMI in Padang, the provincial capital of West Sumatra, Painan town and Mentawai islands district of the province.

The meteorology and geophysics agency did not issue a warning for tsunami.

In the hardest-hit district of Kepahiyang, the tremors did not trigger damages or panic among the residents, Head of Emergency Unit of Disaster Management Agency of Kepahiyang District, Syamsuddin, said.

“We have not received any report of building damages or other impacts or casualty of the jolts here, including the impact in Kepahiyang.

“Besides, there was no warning from the BMKG that we have to be alert on a tsunami,’’ he told Xinhua via phone.

Indonesia has been frequently hit by earthquakes as it lies on a vulnerable quake-impacted zone called “the Pacific Ring of Fire”.