At least five strong earthquakes measuring up to 7.0 on the Richter scale hit the Talaud Islands, Indonesia on Thursday, according to bulletins released by the Hong Kong Observatory.

The latest one in the series, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, came at 4:35 p.m. (0835 GMT) Thursday, within 15 hours of the first one at 1:40 a.m. (1740 GMT). The last four of the five tremors came within a period of six hours and a half.

The epicenter of the last tremor was determined to be 3.9 degrees north latitude and 127.1 degrees east longitude, about 390 km northeast of Manado.

Thousands fled the coast on the islands hit by the tremors on fears of tsunami.

Indonesia was located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2009)