The epicenter of the quake which struck at 05.20 p.m. was in the sea 83 km northwest of Bintuhan area in Kaur district, Bengkulu province, at a depth of 114 km beneath the sea level, Head of the Bengkulu Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Office Dadang Permana said.
The quake was not significant enough to cause a tsunami, he said.
The temblor was strongly felt especially by those who happened to be at storied buildings.
"The quake was quite strong. As I have ever felt a powerful quake I chose to stay outdoors to save myself," Awi, an information technology officer of ANTARA News Agency`s branch in Bengkulu, said.
Bengkulu was last hit by an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale during the fasting month of Ramadhan this year.
The province was twice devastated by powerful quakes respectively measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale in 2000 and 7.9 on the Richter scale in 2007.
The two quakes left hundreds of people dead and injured and thousands of houses destroyed with material losses reaching hundreds of billions of rupiahs.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
