An earthquake measuring 6.5 Ritcher scale struck eastern part of Indonesia on Monday, but there's no potential for tsunami and no initial reports of damage or casualty, local meteorology agency said.
In Tolitoli regency, the hardest hit area with quake intensity of 4 to 5 MMI (modified mercally intensity), there were no report of building damaged or people hurt, military command and National disaster management agency said.
"There is no building collapsed or victim of the quake," Viktor Paluan, a military officer in charge at Tolitoli military command told Xinhua.
However, military officers and local agency's official were checking whether any damage or casualty in remote areas, comprising small islands of the regency, said Paluan.
He said that the effort was hampered by the absence of communication facility to the areas.
The quake jolted at 11:54 Jakarta time (0454 GMT) with epicenter at 96 kilometers southwest of Central Sulawesi province and at 33 kilometers under sea bed, an official of the agency Ajat Sudrajat told Xinhua.
Indonesia sits at a vulnerable zone so called "the Pacific Ring of Fire" where two continental plates, stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia, meet that cause frequent volcanic movements.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2008)
