6.1-magnitude earthquake shakes east Indonesia

JAKARTA - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku on Tuesday without causing a tsunami, the country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said.

The agency had first released the earthquake at 6.4 Richter scale before revising it.

The quake occurred at 11.34 am Jakarta time (0434 GMT), with its epicentre at 279 km southeast of Maluku Tengah (Central Maluku) district and a depth of 221 km under the seabed, the agency said.

The agency did not issue a tsunami warning as the quake's tremors did not potentially trigger giant waves.

The jolts were also felt in Sorong City, the capital of the nearby province of West Papua, it added.

However, there were no initial reports of damages or casualties after the powerful quake, said Sandhy Luhulima, head of the Emergency Unit of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency in Maluku province.

"The shakes of the quake were felt significantly in the Maluku Tengah (Central Maluku) district, but they did not cause damage or casualties so far," he told Xinhua via phone. - BERNAMA