90 buildings damaged in quake

GORONTALO, North Sulawesi: At least 90 houses, mosques and office buildings in Paguyaman and Kwandang subdistricts, Gorontalo regency, were damaged by an earthquake late Tuesday which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale.

No casualties were reported in the tremor, which is believed to be the second largest quake to hit North Sulawesi in the last seven years, Aswin Miolo, an official from the local disaster management office, said.

Aswin was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday that in the municipality of Gorontalo there were no reports of serious damage and the electrical blackout lasted a few hours.

A local meteorology official, Hendar Gunawan, said the epicenter of the quake was 1.27 degrees north and 122.56 degree east, or 78 kilometers northwest of Gorontalo, at a depth of about 40 km.

"After the first quake, there were some small aftershocks," Gunawan said. "It affected surrounding areas in Kotamobagu, Bolaang Mongondow, Minahasa regency and Manado."

The largest quake to hit the region was on June 20, 1991, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and destroyed 1,500 buildings in Gorontalo.

Since 1990, there have been nine quakes with the epicenters located more or less in the same place.

Those earthquakes occurred in April 1990 (5.8 on the Richter scale), May 1990 (4.7), June 1991 (6.9), August 1991 (4.6), March 1993 (5.9), April 1993 (5.1), May 1993 (5.4), January 1996 (5.6), and November 1997 (6.8), Antara reported. (swe)