By Ainur Rohmah
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) – An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia on Wednesday.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Anadolu Agency that the quake struck at 9:45am at a depth of 100 kilometers in the Papua islands, 239 kilometers southeast of Boven Digoel Regency in Papua Province. No tsunami alert was issued.
“Until now, there have been no reports of damage or casualties, ” Nugroho said.
Local disaster management agencies are still investigating the impacted areas.
This is the second strong quake in the past three days to hit Boven Digoel.
The area was rocked by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake Monday that damaged a number of buildings, including schools and mosques. The quake was centered in Papua New Guinea’s interior and at least 30 people are believed to have died.
In January, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Banten Regency left one person dead and damaged nearly 3,000 buildings.
Indonesia lies within the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire ” where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
