Earthquake jolts Wamena

WAMENA, Irian Jaya: An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Wamena, some 290 southwest of Jayapura, capital of Irian Jaya at 6:07 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday.

There was no immediate report of casualties, Antara said Thursday.

Chief of the meteorological and geophysics (BMG) station in Irian Jaya Heri Saroso said the quake, with epicenter 130 km east of here and 33 kilometers underground, was strongly felt by locals.

Last August an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale also hit Wamena but no casualties were reported.

Wamena was torn by riots which claimed at least 30 lives following the lowering of the Morning star separatist flags last month. (edt)