5.5-magnitude quake hits off western Indonesia

JAKARTA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 jolted Indonesia's western Bengkulu province on Monday evening, the meteorology and geophysics agency said here.

The quake struck at 21:49 p.m. local time, with the epicenter at 51 km southwest Mukomuko town and the depth at 30 km under sea bed.

Indonesia is prone to quakes as it lies on a vulnerable quake-impacted zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire."