5.9-magnitude undersea quake hits off Indonesia's Maluku

INDONESIA: A 5.9-magnitude undersea earthquake hit off the Indonesian province of Maluku on Tuesday but caused no immediate casualties or damage, meteorologists said.

The quake struck at 10:05 am (0305 GMT) and was centered about 167 kilometers (105 miles) southwest of the provincial capital Ambon, said Aprilyanto of the meteorology centre in Jakarta.

The epicenter was 59 kilometers under the floor of the Banda Sea, too deep to be felt around it, he said. "We have had no reports that the quake was felt in Ambon," he said. The US Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 6.1.

Indonesia, which sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", where continental plates meet causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity, was the nation worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami.

Some 168,000 people were killed in Aceh province when a 9.3-magnitude quake unleashed massive walls of water that reached 11 Indian Ocean nations, killing a total of 220,000.

Jakarta, Tuesday, AFP.