REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Two moderate earthquakes rocked Mamasa District area in West Sulawesi Province on Thursday evening. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the first earthquake, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, occurred at around 08.40 p.m. West Indonesian Time (WIB) and its epicenter was located around 11 kilometers away from the northeast of Mamasa at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The second earthquake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale, happened at around 08.56 p.m. WIB and its epicenter was located about 19 kilometers away from the southeast of the district area at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The agency reported that the tremors were not only felt by the residents of Mamasa District but also those in the districts of Toraja and North Toraja in South Sulawesi Province.

Indonesia is an earthquake-prone country because it lies on the Circum-Pacific Belt, which is also known as the Ring of Fire. Because of this, many tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities.

Over the past four months, a string of earthquakes has continuously been shaking different parts of Indonesia, and no one in the country exactly knows when these natural disasters would stop threatening the archipelago.

In August and September, a series of deadly earthquakes hit the Indonesian island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara Province as well as the city of Palu and districts of Donggala and Sigi in Central Sulawesi Province, leaving several thousands of people dead.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has calculated that the disaster is expected to have made the Central Sulawesi Province suffer material losses of at least Rp10 trillion.

The central government, as revealed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, has set a targeted time for finishing the rehabilitation and recovery endeavors within two years.

On Oct 11, 2018, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake also rocked the East Java and Bali regions. It claimed three lives and destroyed several houses in East Java. The tremors could also be felt by many who had been staying in the resort island of Bali for attending the IMF-World Bank meetings.

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