6.1-magnitude earthquake rocks Indonesia’s Papua Province

No tsunami warning has been issued.

This image from USGS locates the epicentre of a quake that hit Indonesi’s Papua Province on December 16, 2018.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Papua, in eastern Indonesia on December 16, U.S. seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake was 158 km south-southwest of the Province's capital Jayapura at 6.42 p.m. (3.12 p.m. IST), at a depth of 61 km, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was felt in Jayapura, but residents didn't panic, a military spokesman said. “I felt it at home,” Papua's military spokesman in Jayapura Dax Sianturi said. Officials are still assessing the impact of the quake, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide. In September 2018,

a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than 2,200 with a thousand more declared missing.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck Aceh Province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 in Indonesia.