REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale jolted the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang at 4:27 a.m. Central Indonesian Standard Time (Wita) on Thursday, an official said.

Local Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Acting Chief Iksan remarked here on Thursday that the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 10.38 degrees southern latitude and 12.60 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 67 kilometers southwest of Kupang.

He said the quake did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami but it was strong enough to prompt the local people to scramble out of their houses in panic.

The Indonesian archipelago, lying in an area of intense seismic activity where several tectonic plates collide, suffers frequent earthquakes.

Sumba district in the province last week was also jolted by a stronger earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale.

The local BMKG reported that the epicenter of the quake occurring at 4:59 a.m. Wita, was located at 10.59 degrees southern latitude and 119.42 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 12 under the sea level, or some 108 km southwest of West Sumba.

Last Saturday, another earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter Scale jolted Alor District of East Nusa Tenggara Province at 10:26 a.m. local time.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located at 8.28 degrees on the Southern Latitude and 125.00 degrees on the Western Longitude or 32 km northwest of Alor at a depth of 10 km, according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency of Kupang.

But there has been no report of any damage caused by the earthquake.

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