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Strong quake rocks eastern Indonesia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-19 03:46

An earthquake with magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted eastern parts of Indonesia on Saturday morning, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said in Jakarta.

The quake struck at 01:34 am Jakarta time (18:34 GMT Friday) with epicenter at 117 kms northwest Ternate of North Maluku province and at 91 kms under sea bed, an official of the agency Beni Hermanto told Xinhua.

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The intensity of the quake was felt at 2 to 3 MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) at Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, he said.

Indonesia, homed by over 230 million people, sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone so called "the Pacific Ring of Fire," where two continental plates, stretching from Western hemisphere to Japan, meet, which causes frequent seismic and volcanic movements.