Quake in Indonesia kills 8, wounds 65
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-06 11:02

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit Indonesia's remote Papua province Friday, killing at least eight people and injuring 65, the government said.

The earthquake struck 44 miles east of the town of Nabire at about 6:05 a.m, said Margiono, a seismologist with the Indonesian Geophysics and Meteorological Agency in the provincial capital of Jayapura.

The quake was centered 50 miles underground, he said. The U.S. Geological Survey, which tracks earthquakes worldwide, estimated the magnitude at 6.8 and said it was 6 miles deep.

``We have reports that eight people have been killed. We think they are trapped under rubble, but we don't know much details,'' said Margiono, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

At least 33 people were treated in hospitals and 32 others suffered light injuries, he said.

Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, is about 1,400 miles east of Jakarta.

An earthquake of magnitude 6 can cause considerable damage if it hits residential areas.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the so-called Pacific ``Ring of Fire'' - volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin.

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