Ambon Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesman Benny Sipolo said here on Wednesday that the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 7.31 degrees southern latitude and 129.22 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 187 km.
Sipolo said that based on a coordination with MTB district government, the earthquake which was located some 244 km southwest of Saumlaki did not have potential to trigger a tsunami.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", and arch of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Earlier at 9.03 on Tuesday morning Gorontalo was also jolted by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake but there were no casualties or material loss.
According to local BMKG, the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 0.11 degrees southern latitude and 123.49 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 114 km, or some 85 km southeast of Gorontalo.
"The magnitude of the temblor is small enough so it cannot trigger a tsunami nor material damage," Gorontalo BMKG spokesman Slamet said.
On Sunday morning, October 30, an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale also jolted Sigli in Banda Aceh and Pidie Jaya, Aceh province.
Then at 6.52 in the evening on Sunday another 5.7 magnitude earthquake jolted Bengkulu but it did not have any potential to trigger a tsunami.
Its epicenter was located 3.28 degrees southern latitude and 101.33 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 10 km under the sea level, or around 81 km southeast of Mukomuko.
The magnitude of the earthquake was strong enough to prompt the people in Padang, West Sumatra, to scramble out of their houses for fear of an aftershock.
(O001)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
