EARTHQUAKE JOLTS WEST SUMATRA

Padang, West Sumatra, Sept. 23 (ANTARA) - An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted Padang city in West Sumatra on Tuesday at 10.57 pm local time.

The quake's epicenter was located at 3.91 degrees southern latitude and 100.39 degrees eastern longitude, or 101 km southeast of Pagai Selatan, Mentawai, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The temblor's depth was 20 km below sea level and did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

"We did not feel the earthquake," Chan (35), a resident of Gunung Pangilun Padang, said.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Last Saturday, a temblor measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook Nagari Rao and Cubadak, Pasaman District, West Sumatra, causing cracks on a number of buildings.

"There was not casualty in the earthquake in Pasaman," Ade Edwan, a local officer of the West Sumatra disaster mitigation unit, said.

Four other earthquakes measuring 5.1-6.4 on the Richter scale hit several parts of Indonesia a day ahead of Eid Fitr festivities on Sunday.

Data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) show the earthquakes hit several areas in the provinces of North Maluku, Bali, North Sulawesi and North Sumatra.

The first earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rocked North Maluku at 01.34 local time with its epicenter located 1.80 degrees northern latitude and 127.10 degrees eastern longitude, or 117 km northwest of the North Maluku provincial capital of Ternate at a depth of 91 km.

On the same day, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake also hit Nusa Dua, Bali, at 06.06 local time. The second quake was centered at 9.67 degrees southern latitude and 115.49 degrees eastern longitude or 101 km southeast of Nusa Dua at a depth of 36 km.

Another earthquake happened in Melonguane, North Sulawesi, at 14.49 local time also on Saturday.