Quake jolts Sumba island

Quake jolts Sumba island

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: An earthquake measuring 6.12 on the Richter scale hit the island of Sumba yesterday, Antara quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency as saying.

The news agency said the quake struck at around noon local time and was centered at 9.77 degrees south longitude and 120.04 degrees east latitude, some 1,520 kilometers (940 miles) southeast of Jakarta. Aftershocks hit later in the day.

It said the epicenter was 240 km (150 miles) beneath Sumba island, some 32 km (20 miles) from Waingapu, the capital of East Sumba regency.

No fatalities were reported.

The head of the meteorology agency, Sariman, said not much damage was expected from the quake because the epicenter was so deep below the sea.

More than 100 people were killed on Feb. 17 when an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck Biak, off the northern coast of Irian Jaya, causing a tidal wave which washed away many villages. (swe)