Indonesia braces another strong earthquake; further details awaited

An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia's West Sumatra province on Saturday, but no tsunami alert was issued with no immediate reports of any damage or casualties, officials said here. The epicentre of the quake was recorded at 117 km southeast of Mentawai Island, at a depth of 17 km under the sea bed, an official told Xinhua news agency.

A 5.3 magnitude with a depth of 10 km jolted the province 24 minutes earlier. The jolts were felt strongly in Sikakap sub-district of Kepulauan Mentawai district, but there were no initial reports of damages or casualty, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency, told Xinhua.