6.0-magnitude earthquake jolts off central Indonesia's North Sulawesi

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit off Indonesia's North Sulawesi province on Saturday, but did not cause any damage or casualties, disaster agency officials and weather agency said.

The country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said the tremor of the quake did not trigger a tsunami, Xinhua news agency reported.

The quake happened at 15:55 p.m. local time with its epicenter located 37 km southeast of the Melonguane sub-district of Talaud Island and a depth of 11 km under the seabed, according to the agency.

Head of Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency of North Sulawesi Province Joi Oroh told Xinhua that the quake did not cause any damage or casualties.

In the hardest-hit Talaud Island, the tremor was felt strongly, but did not trigger panic among local residents, said Jabes Linda, head of the operational unit of the disaster management and mitigation agency in the district.

"We have checked the risks in each sub-district, so far there were no reports of damage or casualties from the quake," he told Xinhua.

Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire".

--IANS

int/sha