TEMBLOR SHAKES SIBERUT, MENTAWAI

Jakarta, Sept. 2 (ANTARA) - An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook Siberut Island, Mentawi District, West Sumatra, on Wednesday morning at 6.47 am local time.

The temblor's epicenter was located at 1.41 degrees southern latitude, 99.31 degrees eastern longitude, about 52 km southeast of Siberut, Mentawai, according to information of the Meteorological, climatology, and geophysics office (BMKG).

The earthquake's epicenter was at a depth of 10 km below sea level, 96 km northwest of Sipuramentawai (West Sumatra), 124 km southwest of Pariaman, and 124 km southwest of Padang, West Sumatra's provincial capital.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Meanwhile, two 5.2-magnitude earthquakes respectively hit Aceh and Melonguane in the northern part of Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Saturday night (Aug. 29).

Last Friday (Aug. 28), another earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook West Sumatra, following a number of earthquakes and aftershocks jolting the province over the past two weeks.

The temblor's epicenter was located at 1.43 degrees southern latitude, 99.46 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km below sea level, about 69 km southeast of Siberut, Mentawai, 112 km southwest of Padang, and 115 km southwest of Pariaman, West Sumatra.

Padang city and several other regions in West Sumatra were repeatedly rattled by low-magnitude aftershocks, following a 6.9-magnitude earthquake which hit the province on August 16.

The Sunday powerful earthquake could be felt by people living in Mentawai, Padang, Pariaman, Padang Pariaman, Agam, Pesisir Selatan, Payakumbuh and some other areas in West Sumatra as well as part of Riau Islands. The earthquake injured several people and damaged a number of houses.

The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) provincial capital of Kupang and its vicinity were also rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale at 9.51 am local time on Friday (Aug. 28).