Earthquake of magnitude 6.9 strikes Banda Sea off Indonesia

JAKARTA: An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck the Banda Sea off Indonesia on Friday (Aug 21), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, as it revised upwards a prior figure of 6.8.

The quake was at a depth of 640km, said the agency, which had earlier estimated a magnitude of 6.6.

But it was not powerful enough to trigger a tsunami in the Indian Ocean region, said a monitor, Tsunami Service Provider Indonesia.

READ: Twin quakes strike off Indonesia's Sumatra island: USGS

In Kupang city, far south of the quake's epicentre in the Banda Sea, frightened residents ran outside as buildings and streetlights swayed.

"I was in the shopping centre when the quake hit," said resident Engky Nussi.

"Many people ran outside as stuff started falling off the shelves and we were afraid something worse might happen."

Deep quakes tend to cause less damage than shallow ones and the US Geological Survey (USGS) said there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

"We have not received any reports of damage so far", Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency said of the quake.

This is second 6.9-magnitude earthquake to strike Indonesia in the past two days.

Two large and shallow earthquakes struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island early Wednesday.

The quakes, of magnitude 6.8 and 6.9, struck within six minutes of one another from 5.23am at a depth of between 22km and 26km respectively.

No tsunami warning was issued and there were also no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific's seismically active "Ring of Fire", has suffered deadly earthquakes and tsunamis.