Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (Antara) - A more powerful earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale jolted West Sumba district in East Nusa Tenggara province at 6.05 Friday evening after three consecutive moderate quakes shook the area Thursday through Friday morning.
The 6.6 magnitude earthquake was strong enough and had a potential to trigger a tsunami, Local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesman Ikhsan remarked here Friday.
"People should stay on guard because the earthquake is strong enough to trigger a tsunami," Ikhsan said, and added that its epicenter was located at 9.77 degrees Southern Latitude and 119.34 degrees Eastern Longitude at a depth of 10 kilometers under the sea level, or some 14 kilometers southwest of West Sumba.
Indonesia has more than 17 thousand islands scattered along a belt of volcanic and seismic activity known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire", and the area is one of the most quake-prone places on earth.
Earlier Friday morning, an aftershock measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted the West Sumba district that was preceded by two quakes respectively measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale Thursday morning and 4.5 on the Richter scale the same evening.
The epicenter of the first quake on Thursday morning was located at 10.16 degrees Southern Latitude and 119.27 degrees Eastern Longitude, some 64 kilometers southwest of West Sumba, and the second was located at 11.15 degrees Southern Latitude and 119.10 degrees Eastern Longitude at a depth of 121 kilometers below sea level, Ikhsan said.(*)
