An earthquake measuring 6.3 on Richter scale jolted central parts of Indonesia on Tuesday, triggering panic, but no tsunami warning was issued and no damage or casualties were reported, officials said.

The quake struck at 14 : 52 p.m. Jakarta time (0752 GMT) with epicenter at 71 km southeast Gorontalo city of Gorontalo province and with the depth at 142 km under sea bed, an official of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency told Xinhua by phone.

The intensity of the quake was felt at 4 MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) at Gorontalo city, 3 to 4 MMI in Luwu of nearby province of Central Sulawesi, and 2 to 3 MMI in Labuha of North Maluku province and Ternate city the capital of the province, the official said.

The USGS reported on its website that the quake was 6.1 magnitude.

The quake was felt hard in Luwu, one of the hardest hit areas, triggering panic residence, but there was no damaged or those injured by the quake, military officer in charge at Luwu military command Captain A.G.. Anjaran said. "The shakes were strong that people were panic and rushed outside. But no damages have been reported so far," he told Xinhua by phone from Luwu.

In Gorontalo, the other hardest hit area, there was no serious impact of the quake, Anis Musa, senior official of the disaster management and mitigation agency at Gorontalo province told Xinhua.

Indonesia is vulnerable on earthquake as it sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone where is so called "the Pacific Ring of Fire".

Over 170,000 people were killed in Dec. 2004 in northern tip of Sumatra island of Indonesia when Indian Ocean tsunami hit countries along the ocean that totally killed about 230,000 people.

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