An earthquake measuring 5.2 on Richter scale jolted West Nusa Tenggara on Friday at 12.58 western Indonesian time. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported the earthquake's epicenter was located at 8.08 degrees southern longitude and 118.61 degrees eastern latitude at a depth of 30 kilometers below sea level. "The earthquake's epicenter was also located 140 kilometers northeast of Sumbawabesar, 148 kilometers northwest of Labuhanbajo, 210 kilometers northeast of Taliwang and 1,325 kilometers southeast of Jakarta," ANTARA quoted BMKG as saying. Earlier on the same day, an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted Melonguane in North Sulawesi but there was no report of casualties or material damage. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the earthquake, which struck at 7.48 am Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB), was located at 3.70 degrees northern latitude and 125.91 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 102 km below sea level. BMKG said the quake was also located 40 km southeast of Melonguane, 50 km northeast of Tahuna, 262 km northeast of Bitung, 273 km northeast of Manado, and 2,386 km northeast of Jakarta. Indonesia is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arch of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
