JAKARTA, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A shallow and powerful-quake measuring 6.4 Richter scale jolted eastern Indonesia earlier Wednesday, but it was not potential for tsunami and did not leave casualty or damages, officials said here.
The USGS reported that the quake was at 6.5 magnitude.
The quake struck at 02 : 15 a.m. Jakarta time Wednesday (1915 GMT Tuesday) with epicenter at 124 km northwest Ternate of North Maluku province and the depth at 58 km under sea bed, Wahyu Kurniawan, official of the meteorology and geophysics agency told Xinhua by phone.
"We did not issue a warning for tsunami for this quake," Kurniawan said.
The intensity of the quake was felt at 3 to 4 MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) in Ternate and Tondano of nearby North Sulawesi province, he said.
Two aftershocks with magnitudes of 4.3 and 4.5 struck respectively at 02 : 41 a.m. Jakarta time Wednesday (1941 GMT Tuesday) and 04:45 a.m. Jakarta time Wednesday (2145 GMT Tuesday), the official revealed.
The quake triggered panic in Ternate city of North Maluku province, Hallmahera Barat town of Maluku province, and Bitung and Manado cities of North Sulawesi province, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency said.
"The people were panic and rushed out of their houses," he told Xinhua over phone.
Indonesia is prone to quake as it lies on a vulnerable quake-hit zone so called "the Pacific Ring of Fire."
