Quake jolts Bengkulu, East Nusa Tenggara

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Bangka/Kupang

A strong earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook Bengkulu early on Monday.

No casualties have been reported as yet.

Tanto, a staff member of the local office of the Bengkulu Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said the quake rocked the southern part of the province at 5:31 am and its epicenter was 87 kilometers south of Manna in South Bengkulu regency.

"The strong earthquake was felt across the province but we don't know of any human casualties or of any damages caused," he said.

The province was shaken by a strong quake in June 2000, in which 94 died, thousands were injured and hundreds of houses, school buildings and mosques were damaged.

Tanto said the province had been jolted 225 times since June last year but it could be felt only 45 times.

Last Friday, at least two people were killed and dozens of houses, school buildings and churches were damaged in a strong quake that shook North Timor Tengah regency in West Nusa Tenggara.

The quake, which registered 4.3 on the Richter scale, occurred at 3:30 p.m. was also felt in Kupang, the provincial capital.

East Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor Yohanis Pake Pani said in Kupang on Monday that Anthon Fuamuni, 25, and Lazarus Fuamuni, 38, who were brothers and residents of Noelelo village, died when the roof of their house collapsed on them.

He said the reason that reports about the quake took so long to reach the provincial government was because communication in the area had been cut due to the quake.

"We have dispatched several hundred tons of rice and building materials to build temporary shelters for residents of the three villages worst hit by the quake," he said.