West Papua hit by 6.1-magnitude quake

Posted Sun Oct 4, 2009 3:32pm AEDT
The quake struck 123 kilometres north-west of the West Papua capital of Manokwari. (file photo) (Reuters: Pichi Chuang)

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia on Sunday, centred in the far east of the country about 3,500 kilometres from the Sumatra quake disaster zone, seismologists said.

The quake in West Papua province struck at 10:36am Jakarta time at a depth of 56 kilometres, 123 kilometres north-west of the West Papua capital of Manokwari, the country's geophysics agency said.

Last Wednesday, a powerful 7.6-magnitude quake rocked Sumatra island in the west of the country, burying thousands and devastating the city of Padang and surrounding villages.

Indonesian geophysics agency technical head Suharjono said there were no immediate reports of injuries in West Papua.

He also said the latest quake was not linked to Wednesday's quake.

"The earthquake in Papua has nothing to do with that in Sumatra. The tectonic plates in both incidents are different," he said.

- AFP

Posted via email from papua's posterous

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