A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of East Timor on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, with tremors felt as far as the Australian city of Darwin, although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The USGS said the quake hit at a depth of 51 kilometres (32 miles) off the eastern tip of Timor island, which is split between East Timor and Indonesia.

An AFP journalist in the East Timor capital Dili felt the earthquake and said that, although it lasted only seconds, "the jolt was quite strong".

"I saw people rushing out of their homes and children running outside of the school," the journalist said.

The earthquake was more violent around the town of Lospalos in the east of the country, but local authorities were still assessing the situation and did not give a breakdown of the damage or possible casualties.

The quake was also felt in Darwin, Australia, which lies across the Timor Sea from the epicentre.

Darwin resident Joel Willingale, who works in heavy manufacturing, said "it went on for about 30 seconds".

"The whole room shook and slammed down," he said.

"We only really feel the effects of a quake occasionally, usually in the Banda Sea. But this one was a big one."

The Banda Sea lies north of Timor island.

To the north in Indonesia, the earthquake triggered panic and prompted people to evacuate buildings in the southwest of the Moluccas archipelago, according to the National Emergency Management.

Authorities did not report any damage or casualties.

The United Nations' tsunami monitoring agency warned that the quake "could generate a tsunami affecting the Indian Ocean region".

No national authority in the region has yet issued a tsunami warning, however.

"No #tsunami threat to Australia from #earthquake felt in Darwin, NT," said Australia's Bureau of Meteorology in a tweet.

East Timor and Indonesia sit on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

In February, a 6.2-magnitude quake killed a dozen people when it struck Indonesia's North Sumatra.

In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake hit the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 people throughout the region, including about 170,000 in Indonesia.

East Timor has a population of about 1.3 million and is Southeast Asia's youngest country, recently celebrating the 20th anniversary of its independence from Indonesia.

The mostly rural economy has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the World Bank saying 42 percent of the population live below the poverty line.

Powerful 7.2-magnitude quake rocks southern Peru
Lima (AFP) May 26, 2022 - A strong 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Peru on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, with Peruvian authorities adding there were no dead or injured.

The quake hit at 7:02 am local time (1202 GMT), at a depth of 218 kilometers (135 miles), according to the USGS, sending people fleeing into the streets.

Peru's National Seismological Center said the quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and a depth of 240 kilometers.

Its epicenter was 20 kilometers northeast of the town of Azangaro, close to Lake Titicaca on the border with Bolivia.

Peruvian authorities said the quake caused a shockwave felt in southwestern regions bordering Chile.

"For the moment, given the level of intensity at the surface, it should not generate any more damage than fear," Hernando Tavera, the director of Peru's Geophysics Institute, told RPP radio station.

"When the quake is deeper there is less shaking of the ground."

However, Rolando Capucho, the general co-ordinator at the National Emergency Operations Center, said they were still "monitoring the situation, it's very early to know whether or not there has been any damage."

The quake was felt throughout the south, including Peru's second largest city, Arequipa, where people left their homes looking for shelter.

"It was strong, many people went out into the streets," said one caller to RPP from the southern city of Cusco, which is near to the world famous Inca ruins of Macchu Pichu.

The presidency urged "calm in the face of possible aftershocks" and said on Twitter that authorities were evaluating the impact of the quake.

Peru, which lies on the Ring of Fire, is hit every year by at least 400 perceptible quakes.

The Ring of Fire is an area of high volcanic and seismic activity around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean.

The last major deadly quake to strike Peru was in August 2007 when a 7.9-magnitude tremor in the central coastal region left 595 people dead.

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Lima jolted by a 5.5-magnitude quake
Lima (AFP) May 12, 2022
A 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook Lima and a large surrounding area Thursday, alarming many locals but with no immediate reports of damage or injury, the National Seismological Center reported. The tremor was recorded at 4:55 p.m. local time (2155 GMT), with an epicenter 30 kilometers west of Chilca, a coastal town south of Lima, and 49 kilometers deep, the Center reported. "5.5 magnitude earthquake occurred 30 km W of Chilca, [province of] Canete. [In] Lima it was felt as strong by the populat ... read more