Earthquake with a Magnitude of 5.9 Strikes Indonesian Province, No Reports of Injuries

A strong, shallow earthquake hit part of Indonesia's Aceh province on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or casualties. The U.S. Geological Survey stated that the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.9, was centered 362 kilometers east of Sinabang, a coastal town in Aceh, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics reported that there was no threat of a tsunami, but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency initially rated the quake's magnitude at 6.3. Variations in early measurements of earthquakes are common. Indonesia, a vast archipelago with more than 270 million people, frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," a belt of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.