Mild quakes shake Jayapura

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: The city and its surrounding areas have been shaken by a series of mild earthquakes this past week, the latest one being in the early hours of Friday.

Setiono, an officer at the local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said the latest quake measured 3.1 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was a mere 24 kilometer south of Jayapura.

He said, on Thursday the city was rocked by a stronger tremor, measuring 4 on the Richter scale, reported the Antara news agency.

There were no reports of casualty or structural damage.

On Monday afternoon a quake measuring 4 on the Richter scale sent many people scurrying out of buildings in Irian Jaya. Since then, the city has felt a number of mild aftershocks. (emb)