Earthquake hits Molucca Sea waters near Indonesia's Bitung

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the waters of the Molucca Sea between Indonesia's North Sulawesi and the North Molucca Islands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, Report informs via DPA.

The quake struck at 9:05 am (0105 GMT) about 116 kilometres east of the city of Bitung at a depth of about 48 kilometres.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) initially reported the earthquake's magnitude at 5.8 as well.

Indonesia sits on a tectonic zone with intense seismic and volcanic activity known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a devastating tsunami which struck Indian Ocean countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India and even reached Africa. Over 230,000 people died.