By DPA
Jakarta : Two strong earthquakes struck the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa early Monday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 70, officials and state media report said.
The first quake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale struck 50 km northwest of the Raba district town on Sumbawa island just after midnight, Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported. It occurred about 50 km beneath the seabed.
Three people were killed, said Rustam Pakaya, chief of the Health Ministry’s Crisis Centre.
Scores of buildings were badly damaged by the quakes, the latest in series of shocks to strike Indonesia in recent days.
The quake was followed by two major aftershocks about three hours later, further damaging homes and buildings, officials said.
Antara, Indonesia’s state-run news agency put the death toll at six with hundreds injured. It said five fatalities were reported from the district of Dompu and one from a nearby district.
A brief tsunami warning was issued but lifted later after no tidal waves materialized.
Another quake of 6.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit the western coast of West Sumatra. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where continental plates meet and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.