Strong earthquake strikes off Indonesia, no casualties reported

Jakarta, Aug 24 A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has hit Indonesia's western province of Bengkulu, but there were no reports of damages or casualties, officials said.

The meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency did not issue a tsunami warning as the tremors did not have the potential to trigger giant waves in the waters off the province, Xinhua news agency reported.

The quake jolt at 21:31 Jakarta time, with the epicenter at 64 km southwest of Kaur district and the depth at 12 km under the seabed.

The tremors were also felt in the nearby provinces of Lampung, South Sumatra, West Sumatra and Jambi.

Spokesman for the country's national disaster management and mitigation agency Abdul Muhari said the jolts did not cause damages or leave those wounded.

"So far, there were no preliminary reports of building or houses damaged here, or those killed due to the tremors," he told the news agency via phone.

The spokesman confirmed that similar reports also came from the two hardest-hit areas, the Kaur district in Bengkulu province and the Liwa town of West Lampung district in Lampung province.

"The shakes of the quakes were felt here, but they did not cause damages, including in the Kaur district," Ibnu Hasyim, head of the logistic unit of the disaster management and mitigation agency of Bengkulu province, said.