Magnitude-5.2 Earthquake Jolts North Bengkulu

Bengkulu (Antara) - An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted North Bengkulu, Bengkulu province at 4.39 local time on Thursday, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG)said. The agency said on Thursday that the quake whose epicenter was located at 3.52 degrees southern latitude, -101.53 degrees eastern longitude and at a depth of 17 km, had no potential to create a tsunami. According to the agency, the epicenter is about 82 km northwest of Kepahing, Bengkulu; 85 km southwest of Central Benkulu; and 653 km northwest of Jakarta. Last Thursday, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake also hit Nias District in Bengkulu's neighboring province of Sumatra. The head BMKG for data affairs, Hendra Swarta, said the epicenter of the quake was located at 0.37 degrees northern latitude and 98.57 degrees eastern longitude. It was about 65 km northeast of South Nias at a depth of 65 km below the sea level. The tremors of the earthquake were felt as far as the Air Bengis areas in West Sumatra province. Indonesia is part of the Ring of Fire, although some of its islands, such as Sumatra, are located in the Indian Ocean rather than the Pacific. The Ring of Fire is located along the Pacific Rim, surrounding the Pacific Ocean. It runs from the tip of South America, up the coast of Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, through Central America and the west coast of Mexico, the United States and Canada. It extends to the southern coast of Alaska and along the Aleutian Islands, going on to Japan and the Philippines, ending in New Zealand. (*)