Jakarta, Jan 22: Two strong earthquakes of 5.5 and 6.0 magnitude hit Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua just minutes apart on Monday but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, seismologists said.

The first quake of 5.5 magnitude hit at 1:27 pm (0957 IST) and was centered some 570 kilometres west of the provincial capital Jayapura at a depth of 33 kilometres, said Fadly Yusuf from the meteorology agency headquarters here.

The second quake struck at 1:33 pm and was centered about 390 kilometres west of Jayapura at a depth of 64 kilometres.

Yusuf said there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The head of the Papua geophysics office Slamet Suyitno was quoted by Elshinta radio as saying the quakes was likely to have damaged houses.

The earthquakes followed a major undersea quake that hit Sulawesi island last evening and left one person killed, two injured but caused no serious damage.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the area.

The initial 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck North Sulawesi province at 7:27 pm yesterday and was centered 160 kilometres southeast of the city of Manado, some 50 kilometres under the sea, the meteorology agency said.

Original Source: Zeenews.com

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