Quakes rock Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Xinhua, 24 December 2006

Moderate quakes hit eastern part of Indonesia and its neighboring Papua New Guinea Sunday and there is no immediate report on casualty or tsunami, Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

A 5.7-magnitude quake jolted Papua New Guinea's island shared with Indonesia's Papua province with epicenter 53 kilometers under seabed at 530 kilometers northwest Port Moresby, capital city of the country, said an official of the agency named only Nurpujiono.

The quake struck at 16:46 Jakarta time, he said.

Earlier at 15:01 Jakarta time, a 5.9-magnitude quake hit Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province at 523 kilometers under seabed and 195 kilometers northeast of Mataram, capital city of the province, he said.