28 Aug 2009

Strong quakes rattle parts of Asia

4:34 pm on 28 August 2009

Two strong earthquakes have hit parts of Asia on Friday.

A quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's Sulewasi islands on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said.

Indonesia's quake agency said the quake hit at 9.51am local time, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. No tsunami warning was issued.

The USGS said the quake was centred 214km southeast from Bau Bau island in Sulewasi and measured at a depth of 627km.

Another quake measuring 6.2 shook China's Qinghai region, the USGS said. It said the depth was 11 km.