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No Pacific-wide tsunami is expected from a 6.8-magnitude earthquake north of Australia, federal officials said tonight.
The warning center, based in Ewa Beach, aslo said the quake was too deep inside the earth to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
The quake occured at 8:58 p.m. Hawaii time in the Banda Sea, in waters off East Timor. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck 171 miles from the capital, Dili, and was centered 300 miles beneath the Banda Sea.
Most residents living in Dili said they didn’t feel the quake.
"We weren’t even aware," said Santina Araujo, a mother of two who attending a church gathering with other housewives. "Everything is normal here, no panic or anything."
East Timor is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
