JAKARTA - A 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Saturday, the meteorology office here said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The quake struck at 5:50 am (2250 GMT) at a depth of 72 kilometres (43 miles) some 194 kilometres northwest of Saumlaki town in Maluku province, the office said in a statement.

The quake was followed by an aftershock of magnitude 6.0, Andi Zulfikar from the geophysics headquarters here told AFP.

Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the quake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed 168,000 people in the country's Aceh province alone.

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity. - AFP/vm