BENGKULU JOLTED BY 5.0 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE

Bandarlampung, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted Bengkulu at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said.

It said the epicenter of the temblor was located at 4.62 degrees southern latitude and 101.59 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 20 km under the sea level.

BMKG said the epicenter was also located 118 km southwest of Bengkulu, 128 km southwest of Padangbetuah in Bengkulu, 131 km southwest of Lais in Bengkulu, 154 southwest of Kepahiang in Bengkulu, and 165 km southwest of Curup also in Bengkulu.

On Sunday morning, November 1, 2009, Bengkulu was also rocked by another earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.

The epicenter of the quake which struck at 5.50 a.m. was located 45 km southwest of Bintuhan, Bengkulu, at a depth of 45 km, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said in its official website.

Sunday's quake was the second to hit the province in two days after an earthquake of equal magnitude also jolted the province at 11.44 a.m. on Saturday with its epicenter located 52 km southwest of Lais, North Begkulu, at a depth of 25 km.

Bengkulu was last hit by a powerful quake with a magnitude of 7.9 in September 2007 when at least six people were killed and tens of others injured.

People in Bengkulu city distinctly felt the tremors and scrambled out of their homes in panic for fear of another stronger aftershock.

Indonesia's 17,000 islands are scattered along a belt of volcanic and seismic activity known ans the "Pacific Ring of Fire," making the archipelago one of the most quake-prone regions on the planet.

Saturday's earthquake in Bengkulu occurred two days after a 5.6 temblor rocked Bitung in North Sulawesi on Thursday.