A tectonic earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richer Scale jolted Bengkulu again on Saturday evening, ANTARA quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) as saying. Fahmiza, a BMG official in Bengkulu, said on Saturday that the quake struck at 23:48 pm local time with its epicenter at 4.56 degrees southern lattitude and 101.18 degrees eastern longitude. It was located 147 km soutwest of Bengkulu town at a depth of 10 km below sea level. The quake was an aftershock following the first temblor which rattled the province at 23:01 pm with a magniture of about 6.7 on the Richer Scale. This province was last year rocked by a tectonic quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale which killed at least 15 people and injured over 50 others. On Wednesday, a strong earthquake with the magnitude of 6.1 was reported to have shaken Bengkulu. The quake struck at 15:48 p.m. local time (GMT+7) with the epicenter at 67 km southeast Bengkulu town, capital of Bengkulu province and at 31 km under sea bed without potential of tsunami, a text message from the agency said. The quake`s epicentre was about 100 miles southwest of the city of Bengkulu at a depth of some 16 miles, according to the country`s meteorology agency. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.8. Local officials said there was no risk of a tsunami or immediate reports of damage. In December 2004, a massive earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that battered much of the Indian Ocean coastline and killed more than 230,000 people in Aceh and Nias island.
