JAKARTA: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Bali Thursday, causing panic in tourist areas as people fled buildings that cracked in the strong shake, seismolologists said.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake's epicentre was in the ocean south of Bali's capital Denpasar, but the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no current tsunami warning in effect.
Strong shaking was felt for several minutes in the main tourist district of Kuta, said Endro Tjahjono from the Bali office of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.
"There was panic, everyone ran out of the buildings. When we returned to our office building, we saw some cracks on the wall and plaster had come off the walls," he told AFP.
The quake was measured at 61.3 kilometres (38.1 miles) deep, and struck some 130 kilometres south-southwest of Bali's capital Denpasar, the US seismologists said.
Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency measured the undersea quake at 6.8-magnitude and put the quake's depth at just 10 kilometres, but said it was unlikely to cause a tsunami.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.
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