Strong quakes rock Maluku

Strong quakes rock Maluku

JAKARTA: Two strong earthquakes rocked Maluku province on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, the local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

The first quake of magnitude-6.4 struck just about 40 minutes after midnight, while the second, measuring 6.0 magnitude came at 7:40 a.m., said Benny Sipollo of the agency's office in Ambon.

He said the first quake was centered beneath the 7,500-meter (25,000-foot) -deep Banda Sea, about 245 kilometers (153 miles) northwest of Ambon and the second was only 10 kilometers (6 miles) farther, both with the same depth of about 225 kilometers (140 miles) under the seabed.

A quake of magnitude 6 can cause considerable damage if centered near residential areas.

On Friday, a magnitude-5.9 quake hit near Banda Aceh, the capital of the tsunami-ravaged Aceh province. --AP