Akhir 15, 1432 / March 20, 2011, SPA -- An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale rocked the southern part of West Java province on Sunday morning but there was no immediate report of casualties or material damage. The epicenter of the quake which struck at 08.20 a.m. was in the sea 113 km southwest of West Java's Sukabumi town at a depth of 10 km, ANTARA quoted the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) as saying on its official website. The quake was not significant enough to trigger a tsunami, according to the agency. "The quake was felt by people living in Sukabumi, Garut, Tasikmalaya, and Cianjur," Pepen Efendi, spokesman of the agency's office in Bandung, capital of West Java province, said on Sunday. He said the epicenter of Sunday's quake was found in the meeting point of very active Indoaustronesia and Indoeuronesia plates which triggered a number of quakes in recent years. "But the location is different from the epicenter of the quake which struck off the Tasikmalaya coast (a few years ago)," he said. Sunday's quake was the latest in a series of quakes to hit the southern part of West Java over the past few months. A powerful quake last hit southern West Java on September 9, 2009, causing considerable damage in a number of areas. Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific "ring of fire", a volcanologically active terrestrial chain where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can happen any time.
