Jakarta - A moderate earthquake struck the eastern
Indonesian islands of North Maluku on Thursday, heavily damaging
homes and buildings and injuring at least two people, officials and
news reports said.
The 5.4-magnitude tremblor hit Labuha district on the North Maluku
island of Halmahera and nearby regions on Thursday morning, said
Edison Gurning, spokesman for Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics
Agency.
Gurning said in a statement that the quake's epicentre was in the
ocean, about 17 kilometres north-east of Labuha and some 33
kilometres beneath the seabed. The area lies about 2,800 kilometres
north-east of Jakarta.
Antara, Indonesia's state-run news agency, reported that a number
of homes and buildings were heavily damaged from the quake, and two
residents were hospitalized after being hit by falling debris.
Rusly Abdul Wally, Labuha's deputy district chief, told Antara
that his office was still collecting details on damage and injuries
from the affected areas.
It was the second earthquake to hit Indonesia in just more than a
week.
A strong, 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck West Sumatra province on
March 6, killing around 70 people, injuring dozens more and
destroying or damaging thousands of homes and buildings across seven
districts.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to
earthquakes because it sits atop Asia's so-called 'Ring of Fire,'
where continental plates collided and earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions are frequent.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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