Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NT (ANTARA) - An earthquake, measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale, hit Alor District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, on Thursday at 9:53 a.m. local time, but it did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

The tremor was felt by residents of Maritaing, Alor, at II-III MMI (Modified Marcelli Intensity), Robert Owen Wahyu, head of the Kupang meteorology, climatology, and geophysics office, stated in Kupang on Thursday.

The quake's epicenter was located at 8.35 degrees southern latitude and 125.12 degrees eastern longitude, some 63 kilometers (km) southeast of Alor, and at a depth of 10 km.

Judging from its epicenter's location and hypocenter depth, the earthquake was a shallow one and triggered by the activity of North Belu fault.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.



Translator: Bernadus Tokan, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019