Aftershocks hit Bengkulu

Aftershocks hit Bengkulu

BENGKULU, Bengkulu: Another strong aftershock jolted the
provincial capital here on Sunday as people were rebuilding their
homes which were wracked by an earthquake last month.

Local meteorology and geophysics office head Armyn Paimin told
Antara that the predawn temblor was measured at 5.5 on the
Richter scale. Its epicenter was located at the depth of 33
kilometers in the Indian Ocean, 120 kilometers southwest of here.

It was one of the strongest aftershocks since the quake, which
measured 7.3, destroyed the town on June 4 and left 54 people
dead and hundreds of others injured. The geophysics office
recorded 3,354 aftershocks, of which 103 were above 4 on the
Richter scale.

Most residents were asleep when Sunday's tremor took place.
Panicking, they rushed out of their homes, while many others
gathered in mosques to say prayers.

No fatalities were reported from the temblor, except some
buildings were leveled after being damaged in last month's quake.
(amd)