CNN, 1444 GMT (2244 HKT), August 29, 2006
Quake strikes eastern Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- A magnitude 6.4 undersea earthquake struck
Indonesia's Moluccas islands on Tuesday and there was a possibility of a tsunami, an
official at the meteorological agency said.
"There is a possibility of a tsunami, but until now we have not received a report that it
has happened," Fauzi, head seismoslogist at the agency, told Reuters.
The epicenter of the quake lay southwest of Tual island at a depth of 33 kilometers
beneath the Banda Sea, he said. That would put it due east of East Timor and due
north of Darwin in northern Australia.
Fauzi said that, beside the southern part of the Moluccas chain, one potential danger
zone in case of a tsunami could be East Timor.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said it had recorded a 5.1 magnitude earthquake
in the region at 1338 GMT.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.
|
