Two consecutive earthquakes hit North Sumatra and Aceh provinces on Monday morning, ANTARA quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) as saying. The first earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale hit North Sumatra waters on Monday at 5.12 am Western Indonesian Time (WIB). The quake's epicenter was located at 0.06 degrees southern latitude and 98.03 degrees eastern longitude, around 44 km northwest of Tanah Masa, at a depth of 27 km below the sea level, North Sumatra. The second earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale occurred in Aceh waters at 7.56 am WIB. The quake's epicenter was located at 4.01 degrees northern latitude and 95.92 degrees eastern longitude, some 26 km southwest of Meulaboh and 122 km southwest of Takengon (central Aceh), at a depth of 40 km below sea level. Both earthquakes did not trigger tsunami. Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet -- and where earthquakes are a regular and often deadly occurrence.
