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)