Jakarta [Indonesia], April 3: An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's eastern North Maluku province early Thursday, without triggering large waves, the country's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency reported.
The agency initially recorded the magnitude at 6.0 before revising it.
The quake occurred at 04:03 a.m. Jakarta time Thursday (2103 GMT), with the epicenter located 121 km southwest of Loloda sub-district in North Halmahera Regency, at a depth of 42 km beneath the seafloor.
The tremors were recorded at intensity levels II to III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale in Ternate City and West Halmahera Regency. They were also felt in the neighboring province of North Sulawesi, where Manado and Bitung experienced shaking of similar intensity.
The agency did not issue a tsunami warning, as the earthquake did not have the potential to generate large waves.
A 4.9-magnitude aftershock followed at 04:31 a.m.
Indonesia, an archipelagic nation, is highly earthquake-prone due to its location along the seismically active "Pacific Ring of Fire."
Source: Xinhua
