Saturday, February 19 2005 09:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jakarta: An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi Island today (Feb 19, 2005), causing the sea tide to rise and sparking fears of another tsunami, meteorologists said.

The undersea quake occurred at 08:04 hrs (local time) (05:34 hrs IST) with the epicentre 224 kilometres south of Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi province, said Sutiono of the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

"There was a report of the quake causing the tide to rise between three and four metres (10-13 feet) but we haven't received information if there was any damage or casualties. People feared a tsunami," Sutiono said.

Elshinta radio said that the walls of a local Government building were cracked by the quake.