An earthquake with magnitude of 6. 4 rocked Aceh province in the northern tip of Sumatra Island on Saturday evening, no damage or casualty was reported, local meteorology agency said.

The quake struck at 21:43 Jakarta time (1443GMT) with an epicentre of 200 kilometres northwest Sinabang town of the province and 10 kilometres under sea bed, an official of the agency Andi Suryani said.

The intensity of the quake was not felt on land, she said.

"It is because the epicentre of the quake is far from the land, " Suryani told Xinhua.

In Sinabang town, the closest area to the epicentre, there were no reports of damage or casualty, said a military officer in charge of the Aceh provincial military command who only gave his name as Bachtiar. "We have called officials at the Sinabang military command, they said that there were no building collapsed or victims in the quake, " he told Xinhua over phone from the province.

The quake did not cause panic, as the shake was so short, said the officer.

In 2004, over 170,000 people were dead in Aceh province after a tsunami triggered by a powerful quake devastated coastal areas of the province and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia lies in a vulnerable zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire" where two continental plates meet, stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia, causing frequent volcanic movements.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2008)