There were no immediate reports of damage and officials said no tsunami warning had been issued.

Indonesian officials said the quake struck at 4:08 pm (0908 GMT), 91 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of Gorontalo in North Sulawesi, at a depth of 32 kilometres.

The US Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 5.5.

The quake was felt in the towns of Luwuk and Gorontalo on Sulawesi, meteorologist Nurhayati told AFP, but there were no reports of damage.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

The archipelagic nation was hardest hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004 which killed an estimated 168,000 people in Aceh province.

Moderate earthquake hits northern California
A moderate 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit an offshore area of northern California early Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, the US government said.

The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 2:26 am (0926 GMT), was located in the Pacific Ocean, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the town of Petrolia, the US Geological Survey said.

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.

Petrolia, which has an estimated population of fewer than 500 people, is located in the Mattole Valley, next to the Lost Coast Wilderness area, one of the largest nature preserves along the northern California coastline.

Quake jolts Pakistan, Afghanistan
A moderate earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted northwest Pakistan on Sunday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, an official said.

Tremors were felt at 7:29 am (0129 GMT) in the northwestern cities of Peshawar, Chitral, Dir, the capital Islamabad and the eastern city of Lahore, seismological department official Mohammad Ishtiaq told AFP.

Its epicentre was located 290 kilometres (181 miles) north of Peshawar in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, he said.

"It was a moderate earthquake and there were no reports of casualties," he added.

The quake was also felt in Afghanistan, including in the capital Kabul, but there were no reports of damage.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in northwest Pakistan and Kashmir killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million in October 2005.

4.4-Richter quake shakes Greek island of Evia
An undersea earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale shook the Greek island of Evia on Sunday, officials said.

The early evening quake at 7:20 pm (1720 GMT) was felt as far as Athens but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

The tremor had its epicentre in the southern Evoikos Bay near the town of Amarynthos, 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Athens, the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens said.

Greece experiences more seismic activity than any other country in Europe, accounting for half of Europe's recorded quakes.

Another tremor measuring 4.1 points on the open-ended Richter scale rattled the western town of Nafpaktos (Lepanto) on Saturday.

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