国际英语新闻:1st LD Writethru: Strong quake strikes off central Indonesia, no tsunami alert issued

JAKARTA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- A revised 6.7-magnitude earthquake rocked North Sulawesi province in central Indonesia on Sunday night, but did not potentially trigger a tsunami, the country's meteorology and geophysics agency said.

The agency initially said the quake's magnitude was originally measured at 6.9 magnitude, Said Kristyawan, official in charge at the agency, told Xinhua via phone.

There was no preliminary reports of damages or casualties resulted from the earthquake, he said.

The quake jolted at 22:23 p.m. Jakarta time (15:23 GMT) with the epicenter at the depth of 117 km under sea bed, 280 km north Melonguane sub-district of Talaud islands district, the official said.

"The epicenter is located in the deep sea, so that it did not potentially trigger a tsunami. So far, there were no reports of impact of the quake from our branch offices there," he said referring to two areas which felt the tremors.

The intensity of the quake was felt at III MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) in Tahuna district and Siau island, according to him.

Indonesia has been frequently hit by earthquakes as it lies on a vulnerable quake-hit zone of "the Pacific Ring of Fire."