Earthquake jolts Bali

JAKARTA (JP): A pre-dawn earthquake registering 5.0 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia's holiday island of Bali yesterday, but no damages nor casualties were reported.

The local meteorological office said that the epicenter of the quake was situated below the Bali Strait, some 38 kilometers west of the island's capital Denpasar, Antara reported.

The office said minor tremors which started at 2:06 a.m. Indonesia Central Time affected Denpasar, Tabanan and Jembrana. Bali's time is one hour earlier than Jakarta's.

"We felt the tremors but they did not cause us to panic," a Denpasar resident, I Wayan Suanartha, said. He said the quake threw him off his bed as he was asleep.

Another earthquake measuring six on the Richter scale tore down "the island of paradise" on July 16, 1976, killing more than 460 people and injured another 3,000. It was dubbed one of the most severe disaster in the country's history.