Strong earthquake in Indian Ocean near Mauritius

A strong earthquake measuring 6.3 hit an area of the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius on Monday, the US Geological Survey said.

A strong earthquake measuring 6.3 hit an area of the Indian Ocean east of Mauritius on Monday, the US Geological Survey said.

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The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 0330 GMT, was located 320 kilometers (199 miles) northeast of Rodrigues Island and 901 kilometers (560 miles) east-northeast of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, the US agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The agency initially put the tremor's magnitude at 5.8, but revised it upwards later.

The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.