Quake Rocks Western Indonesia, no Casualties
Date: 17-May-06
Country: INDONESIA
The epicentre of the quake lay in the Indian Ocean at a depth of 33 km (21 miles), about 110 km southwest of Teluk Dalam town, said agency official Agung Sunaryadi.
"There is no tsunami report. A quake like this can cause land cracks, but we have no reports of damage from there," he said.
Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Its 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.8 quake struck at 1528 GMT. It said there was no risk of a major tsunami.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the earthquake was not expected to trigger a major tsunami, but could result in a smaller one within 100 km (60 miles) of the epicentre.
In March, 2005, a powerful earthquake devastated Nias island, killing some 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
That quake came just three months after a powerful undersea quake off the northern tip of Sumatra caused a devastating tsunami and brought widespread destruction in December 2004.
(Additional reporting by Stuart Grudgings in Washington)