Shallow quake strikes off E. Indonesia

An earthquake measuring 5.6 Richter scale jolted North Maluku in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here.

The quake struck at 14:50 p.m. local time and centered at 116 km northwest Halmahera Barat of North Maluku and with the depth at 10 km under sea bed, an official of the agency told Xinhua via phone.

Indonesia is prone to quake as it lies on a vulnerable quake- hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire." Endi