EARTHQUAKE JOLTS ENDE, EAST NUSA TENGGARA

Jakarta, June 4 (ANTARA) - An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted Ende, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), early Thursday.

The earthquake's epicenter was located at 8.52 degrees southern latitude, and 122.08 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km below sea level, 61 km northeast of Ende, or 179 km northeast of Ruteng, NTT, according to the national meteorological and geophysics office here on Thursday.

Last Tuesday (June 2), an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale jolted West Sumatra at 8.32 am local time.

The earthquake's epicenter was located at 3.25 degrees southern latitude, and 100.09 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km below sea level, around 35 km southwest of Pagai Selatan, Mentawai District, West Sumatra Province, Syamsir, an analyst of the Padang Panjang meteorological and geophysics office, said.

"The earthquake did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami and it's a new earthquake," he said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the edge of a tectonic plate prone to seismic upheaval.

In December 2004, a 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Aceh (northern Sumatra) and Nias Island (North Sumatra Province) and triggered a deadly tsunami which devastated the two affected areas and killed around 200,000 people.