REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted North Sumatra Province at 8.25 a.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB) on Friday, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported.

Based on an information on the BMKG website, the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 1.37 degrees Northern Latitude and99.19 degrees Eastern Longitude at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The epicentre was specifically located 9 kilometers southwest of Padang Sidempuan, 25 kilometers southwest of South Tapanuli, 54 Kilometers southwest of Padang Lawas Utara, and 253 kilometers southeast of Medan.

Indonesia's 17 thousand islands are scattered along a belt of volcanic and seismic activity, known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire", and that the area is one of the most quake prone places on earth.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, a 5.2-magnitude earthquake also hit Samosir District in North Sumatra Province.

The epicentre of the quake which struck at 08.24 a.m. WIB was located eight kilometers northeast of Samosir sea at a depth of 152 kilometers, the head of data and information section of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Medan, Syahnan said.

But there was no immediate report of casualties or material damage.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 is considered moderate and capable of causing considerable damage.

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