Strong quake rattles Indonesia's Simeulue island

JAKARTA - A strong quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia's Simeulue island off the western coast of Sumatra Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake hit at 1:11 pm (0611 GMT) and was centered 30 kilometers (19 miles) under the sea 50 kilometers southeast of Simeulue's main town of Sinabang.
Simeulue was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale on March 28. It caused massive damage to urban centers in Sinabang and killed 17 people on the island. More than 600 people died on the nearby Nias island.
Simeulue was also hit by the 9.3 magnitude earthquake on December 26 that triggered tsunamis which killed more than 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

04/11/2005 08:29 GMT