Moderate earthquake shakes Jakarta

A moderate earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Java on Monday but no casualties were reported.

A moderate undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 struck off the Indonesian island of Java on Monday, but the state meteorology and geophysics agency said there were no reports of casualties or damage.

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"We have received no damage report. We don't know how long it lasted but probably it was below one minute," agency seismologist Fauzi told.

Some occupants of high-rise Jakarta buildings felt the quake, which had an epicentre in the Indian Ocean off Java's southern Pangandaran beach.

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. A massive earthquake in December 2004 triggered a tsunami that left 170,000 people killed or missing in Aceh province.

In May, an earthquake near the central Java city of Yogyakarta killed more than 5,700 people.

Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the 'Pacific Ring of Fire'.