Strong quakes hits Bengkulu

BENGKULU: An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale rocked Bengkulu on Monday, with no immediate fatalities or other damages being reported.

Rachmat, a staff member of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Jakarta, said on Monday that the quake's epicenter was 32 kilometers south of Bengkulu in the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 80 kilometers.

Armien Paimin, chief of the BMG office in Kepahiang, Bengkulu, said the quake was the fifth to hit the area this month.

The province was hit by 664 earthquakes in December 2001, and more than 6,500 between June and December 2001.

The worst to hit the province in recent history occurred in June 2000. It left 94 locals dead and caused Rp 400 billion in material losses. --Kompas Cyber Media