Strong earthquake shakes western Indonesia, no tsunami alert

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong undersea earthquake shook western Indonesia Monday morning. But there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake was centered 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Singkil, a coastal district in Aceh province at a depth of 48 kilometers (30 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. No tsunami alert was issued by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 270 million people, is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.