(RTTNews) - A moderate earthquake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, struck off Indonesia's West Java province Wednesday, and there were no immediate reports of either casualties or damage to property; also, no tsunami warning was issued, officials said.

The meteorology and geophysics agency said that the quake struck at 9:17 a.m. (0217 GMT), 133 miles (214 kilometers) southwest of Tasikmalaya at a depth of 41 miles (66 kilometers).

A 7.3-magnitude quake that struck off Tasikmalaya early September, hit 14 towns and regencies in West Java, killing 73 persons and wounding more than 900 others.
Around 64,000 houses were severely damaged and more than 141,000 others suffered minor damage. Over 1,100 schools and 230 administrative buildings were also damaged in the quake.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes as well as tsunamis triggered by underwater earthquakes. The archipelago-country with over 17,500 islands, is situated in an area of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. Its present population is 230 million.

Last year, more than 500 persons died when a tsunami hit an area of the Java coast after an undersea earthquake. And in the Asian tsunami of December 2004, over 130,000 persons perished in the northern island of Sumatra when waves destroyed swathes of the province of Aceh.

by RTT Staff Writer

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