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JAKARTA - A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake and a series of aftershocks rocked the Indonesian island of Flores early Wednesday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake struck 170 kilometres west-northwest of the town of Endes at 1:31am (1731 GMT Tuesday) and its epicentre was 10 kilometres under the ocean floor, the US Geological Survey said.
The Indonesian meteorology agency put the quake at a magnitude of 6.0 and said the epicentre was 30 kilometres below the ocean floor.
A 5.3-magnitude aftershock centred in the same region struck 24 minutes later, the meteorology office said.
Further quakes of up to 5.9 struck in the same region during the morning.
"So far we have not received any reports of damage or casualties, although we are still coordinating with the sub-districts," said a district official in Ruteng.
Two other earthquakes were registered elsewhere in Indonesia overnight, one with a magnitude of 5.5 off Mentawai island, western Sumatra, and another measuring 5.8 in northern Sulawesi island.
There were no immediate reports of damage and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has not issued an alert for the region.
Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the quake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004 that killed 168,000 people in the country's Aceh province.
The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity. - AFP/ir
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