A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's eastern Moluccas on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, but Indonesian authorities and residents said no damage occurred.
The USGS said in an emailed statement that the quake struck 149 kilometres (93 miles) north of Saumlaki in Maluku province at a depth of 20 kilometres, at 4:39 pm (0839 GMT). Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) measured the quake at 7.1 and said it hit at a depth of 100 kilometres. A tsunami alert was not issued.
"It was felt strongly in Saumlaki but there are no reports of damage for the time being," BMG official Edi Kusuma said. "I ran out of my house as I felt a quite strong shake," Jemmy, a resident in Saumlaki, told AFP, adding that people in his neighbourhood panicked but had returned home.
He added that there was no damage in his area. The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The nation was worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province.
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