The quake was centered 279 kilometres west of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar islands. There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including 168,000 in Indonesia.
The same day, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rattled Anchorage city, the US state of Alaska, causing huge infrastructure damage.-VNA
