Quake rocks Banda Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: A tectonic earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale struck Banda Aceh at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

An employee of the Mata Ie Meteorology and Geophysics office here, Sugeng, told Antara the epicenter of the quake was determined at a depth of 33 kilometers in the Indonesian Ocean, about 500 kilometers southwest of here.

No casualties or damage was reported.

It was the fifth quake to hit Aceh's capital in the past six months. The most recent quake, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, jolted the town late in April.

"Aceh is vulnerable to tectonic earthquakes because it lies on the quake line which stretches along the Bukit Barisan mountain ranges, from Lampung to Sabang in Aceh," Sugeng said. (amd)