JAKARTA, Aug 12 — A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the eastern Indonesian region of Papua on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, but a monitor said there was no tsunami threat.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at around 5.24pm (0824 GMT), was around 193 kilometres north-west of the town of Abepura in Papua, USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

USGS earlier gave a magnitude of 6.5 before revising it downward.

The vast archipelago nation experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through South-east Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A magnitude 6.2 quake that shook Sulawesi in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.

In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi killed more than 2,200 people.

And in 2004, a magnitude 9.1 quake struck Aceh province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia. — AFP