Quake jolts Manado, Ternate

JAKARTA: A strong earthquake shook Manado in North Sulawesi and Ternate in North Maluku on Sunday morning, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said.

No damage nor injuries were reported in the 5.6-magnitude quake. The epicenter of the tremor was detected in the ocean, just over 180 kilometers east of Manado at a depth of 33 kilometers below sea level.

"The quake was quite strong and would have caused serious damage if had been centered closer to an urban area," a BMG official said.

Hundreds of quakes, mostly moderate one, have jolted Indonesia in the past year. The strongest one, 9.3 on the Richter scale, caused the tsunami that battered Aceh and Nias on Dec. 26, claiming over 130,000 lives. -- Antara