An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rocked the Melonguane area in North Sulawesi early Monday morning, ANTARA quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) as saying. The agency said the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 3.92 degrees northern latitude and 126.67 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 10 km under the sea level. It said the epicenter was also located 137 km northeast of Tahuna, 319 km northeast of Bitung, 338 km northeast of Manado in North Sulawesi, and 357 km northwest of Ternate in North Maluku. North Sulawesi and environs were also jolted by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on September 30, 2009. The BMG said the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 4.78 degrees northern latitude and 126.74 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 10 kilometers under the sea level, or about 87 kilometers northeast of Melonguana in North Sulawesi. The earthquake rocked North Sulawesi two hours after another one , measuring 5.2 the Richter scale, shook d Southeast Sulawesi at 6:38 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The South Sulawesi temblor`s epicenter was located at 6.98 degrees southern latitude, 125.66 degrees eastern longitude, around 176 km northeast of Dili (Timor Leste), 379 km southeast of Bau-bau at a depth of 533 km below sea level. It was also located 423 km northeast of Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara Province), 478 km southeast of Kendari (Southeast Sulawesi), and 464 km southwest of Ambon (Maluku Province). Last Thursday (Oct 8) North Sulawesi was also hit by an earthquake that registered d 6.1 on the Richter scale in Tahuna waters. The quake's epicenter was located at 4.01 degrees northern latitude, 122.65 degrees eastern longitude, and at a depth of 576 kilometers below sea level, 371 km northwest of Manado, according to information from the national meteorology and geophysics office. But the temblor did not have the potential of triggering a tsunami.
