Martabe set to produce in 2011

Hongkong-based mining company G-Resources Group Ltd. may begin producing silver and gold from the Martabe mine in North Sumatra as early as 2011, a senior official said.

"They expect to begin production within two years," Bambang Setiawan, director general for coal, minerals, and geothermal energy at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told reporters Thursday.

The Martabe mine is a gold and silver development project located about 40 kilometers from the port of Sibolga, North Sumatera. The mine covers a total area of 1,639 square kilometers.

The project was established under a so-called "sixth generation" contract of work (COW) signed in April 1997.

The mine is estimated to contain 2.2 million ounces of gold reserves and 29.7 million ounces of silver reserves.

G-Resources has begun construction for the project, which, once completed, is expected to produce gold at a rate of 250,000 ounces per annum and silver at 3 million ounces per annum.

G-Resources acquired a 95 percent interest in the Martabe project from Australia's OZ minerals in May this year. G-Resources stated that it had raised US$587 million to fund the acquisition of the development of the Martabe project.

The anticipated total development capital expenditures of the project stands at $360 million, of which around $76 million has already been spent, the company added.

Earlier this week, G-Resources announced it had found "outstanding high grade" gold and silver at the Martabe site over the past ten months.

"Drilling results confirm that significant potential exists to expand the existing resource base of 5.9 million ounces of gold and 61 million ounces of silver," G-Resources said in the statement.

G-Resources says it is seeking to rapidly increase production to more than one million ounces of gold annually through exploration of the large and highly prospective contract of work area and through the acquisition of other quality gold assets.

Response Of Noordin M Top's Family In Malaysia

Indonesian Police's Special Forces, Densus 88 Anti-terror raid a house in the village of Beji, District Kedu, Temanggung regency, Central Java, on Saturday 8 August 2009. With full strength, Densus 88 intended to arrest one man, Noordin M Top, one of the top leader of Jemaah Islamiya (JI) linked to Al-Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. In the ambush, one person who died is suspected as Noordin M Top.

When asked for responses, one of the family of Noordin M Top's first wife, Siti Rahma at Sungai Tiram, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, refused.

"We do not have the report yet. The information just come from you," said a woman with a head scarf behind the window to tvOne reporter, Saturday 8 August 2009. When asked for her name, the woman said nothing. Then, when she was confirmed whether that she is Siti Rahma, the woman disputed. "her sister," she said.

Meanwhile, people around Pesantren Lukmanul Hakim (Boarding School), where Noordin M Top had been the teacher, refused to confirm. Similarly with people around the house of Noordin's parent. They fear will be arrested by the Malaysian police if provides information about Noordin M Top.

After the reports about Noordin circulate, Malaysian police await information concerning this leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) in Asia. Chief of the Malaysian Police , General Tan Sri Musa Hassan said Malaysia to offer assistance for Indonesia, if the man was killed in the incident is Noordin M Top.

"I can not give a response concerning the incident, I do not get information from our colleagues in Indonesia," he said as quoted Bernama News Agency, Saturday 8 August 2009.

However, Musa Hassan said, Malaysia still in touch with the Indonesian police. "These include identifiying people who was killed in the incident, is he Noordin or not," he added.

Noordin's first wife, Siti Rahma came from Riau, one of Indonesia's province in Sumatera. She is the sibling of Mohammad Rois, Jamaah Islamiyah member who is also a teacher at the Luqmanul Hakiem, a boarding school where Noordin M Top once taught.

Currently Siti Rahma and her family known living in the area of Sungai Tiram, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. They live in the neighbor country began in 2005. According to information, for the recent years, Noordin's family in Malaysia sells pastry to survive. Noordin's parent-in-law, Rusdi resume his old job.

Post Lukmanul Hakim closed, law and Noordin's wife live in Riau and settling at Pendekar Bahan that is about 85 kilometers from Bagan Siapi-api capital of Rokan Hilir, or about 290 km from Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatera.

In addition to the Siti Rahma, Noordin also married Munfiatun, a woman from Pecangakan Kulon, Jepara, Central Java.

The last, Noordin's newest wife traced in Cilacap, Central Java. In Cilacap, Noordin married Ariani Rahma alias Arina, maiden from Pesuruan Village, District Binangun, Cilacap, Central Java.

DNA technology could help save endangered forest species

New technology is providing some hope to those battling to stop Indonesia's massively devastating and hugely costly illegal logging activity.

In recent years, unlawful forest destruction has resulted in undermining the rule of law and deprived the state of substantial revenues. The World Bank estimates the illicit practice costs more than a staggering Rp 100 trillion each year.

It has serious economic and social implications for the poor and disadvantaged and the threat to ecosystems and biodiversity is enormous, with very little long-term advantage for anyone other than those who are responsible for the plunder and smuggling of timber.

There is no doubt that the use of endangered wood for elegant furniture, timber-lined walls and hardwood floors in the West is fueling this appalling trade, which is threatening to wipe out whole species of trees and precious rainforests, and the livelihoods of millions of Indonesians dependent on the forests for their survival.

Despite efforts from the government to stamp it out, the destruction of massive amounts of irreplaceable Indonesian rainforest appears to continue unabated.

Environmentalists have long been attempting to pressure the authorities to do more to stop illegal logging but a key challenge has always been tracking the origin of timber.

But now one organization has developed an innovative process for identifying exactly where each piece of wood comes from by using DNA technology.

Singapore-based Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DHTT) extracts DNA samples in the forest and builds databases. DNA tests then enable them to identify precisely which forest a piece of timber actually comes from.

In effect, this technology should put the prevention of use of illegally traded timber in the hands of customers.

Various measures are in place to curb illegal logging with a plethora of bodies having been established by civil society stakeholders and private sector representatives from timber-producing countries, in partnership with the World Bank.

The United States must take the credit for taking the first important step in addressing the illegal logging issue by extending the century-old wildlife protection law to include timber.

The so-called Lacey Act made it mandatory for an importer to declare the origin of their timber. If found guilty of illegal logging, the importer is subject to heavy fines.

But this law has proven tough to enforce with the timber industry being dependent on an old-fashioned paper-based system for traceability, which is prone to fraud.

DHTT's DNA database is the first step in creating a system to irrefutably prove the origin of timber, and this could be used to enforce the Lacey Act. A perfect example is the merbau species, a resilient red hardwood that is one of the most valuable timbers in Southeast Asia because of the exquisite hardwood flooring that can be produced from it. It can also be used in high-quality furniture production.

Merbau was once found in many parts of the world. Today, the only significant quantities of commercially produced merbau come from the Indonesian province of Papua, and in Papua New Guinea.

"Illegal logging and the associated rampant trade in merbau means that most areas where the timber used to be found have none left, and what there is left is also facing extinction," says Greenpeace China's Liu Bing.

Liu explains that at the current legal rate of logging, merbau will have mostly disappeared within a single felling cycle, which is 35 years. If you take illegal factors into account, merbau's extinction moves much closer.

In 2005, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and its Indonesian partner, Telapak, uncovered crime syndicates that were removing 300,000 cubic meters of stolen merbau logs every month.

Western manufacturers and retailers buy the timber from Indonesia suppliers who claim they are legally harvesting the merbau.

Greenpeace maintains that hardly any of the merbau being sold has been properly legally certified and that most of the wood flooring made from the species is the result of illegal logging.

China plays a major role in this complex trading web because it is where most of the wood flooring in the world is actually made before being re-exported to the West.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has established a joint team to try to stop illegal logging in provinces such as Riau, Kalimantan and Papua. But the success has been compromised by all-too-common rifts between government agencies.

Also, research undertaken by the EIA and Telapak has uncovered wide disregard in Malaysia and Singapore for Indonesian legislation aimed at stopping illegal loggers; the EIA believes the forest crisis is being made worse by countries such as these, which it accuses of "green-washing" illegally cut rainforest timber from neighbors such as Indonesia.

Let's hope that the deployment of DNA technology can seriously help to eliminate the hurdles that get in the way of halting the devastation caused by illegal logging.

Idul Fitri, religious symbol, and liberation

Indonesian Muslims are celebrating Idul Fitri. Most commemorate it by gathering with their family. It is the normal circumstance that many people go back to their village of origin.

The Idul Fitri tradition is marked by silaturahmi (strengthening relations) among residents. They visit each other and shake hands while apologizing.

The relations become stronger this Idul Fitri. Hatred, revenge and envy disappear, and are changed into happiness and brotherhood.

It is common that Idul Fitri is described as a holy day in which all Muslims will be forgiven by God. Etymologically, *id means back or return, and fitr means holy, sacred or innocent.

Muslims believe that on this day, they are the same as babies who are innocent, because God erases their sins.

In general, Idul Fitri can be categorized as a symbolization of lots of values, such as brotherhood, forgiveness, sympathy, good relations, tolerance and mutual understanding.

According to noted Muslim scholar, the late Nurcholish Madjid, God often symbolized messages that He would like to deliver to people. Descriptions of paradise and of hell in the Koran are some of the obvious examples.

Furthermore, Islamic rituals such as prayer, fasting and pilgrimage are also symbolizations of good values that God would like to convey. In other words, Islam provided Muslims with symbols to be learned and transformed in their social life.

To a certain extent, these symbols are not reasonable. Critical questions such as why Muslims have to face the Ka'ba (sacred building in Mecca) while praying, and why Muslims should treat the Ka'ba as sacred, are difficult to explain rationally.

Interestingly, Muslims, either fundamentalists or liberals, accept symbols as part of Islamic teaching. It seems that it is inevitable that religions tended to create symbols to protect sacred things.

In the case of Idul Fitri, Muslims play a significant function in creating the meanings of Idul Fitri. As far as Indonesian Muslims are concerned, Idul Fitri is provided by God as a day in which all Muslims who fast during Ramadan (the month before Idul Fitri) turn into innocent people.

Fitr emphasizes the appreciation of humanity and brotherhood. This day requires Muslims to love all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, culture or nationality. Such liberal meanings should be disseminated.

Muslims are obliged to act in solving social problems in Indonesia. Hopefully, Idul Fitri this year will strengthen our empathy for the oppressed and marginalized people.

10,000 head home on sponsored buses

Over 9,000 noodle sellers and over 1,600 construction workers and their families headed to their hometowns on buses sponsored by companies on Thursday.

The instant noodle producer, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, provided the transport for the noodle sellers, while the workers were given a free ride by a building materials company, PT Jaya Board.

"This is an annual event that has been held 16 times," Mustofa, the director of the Jakarta branch of Indofood and the event's coordinator , said during the departure ceremony at the Kemayoran's Pekan Raya Jakarta parking lot, Central Jakarta.

To list those entitled to the free exodus, the company regularly carries out a census in the nooks and crannies of Jakarta and Greater Jakarta, Mustofa said.

The company also recorded food sellers who use the company's brand of noodles: Mie Telor Cap 3 Ayam.

This year, the company listed 5,086 stalls that can benefit from the event. The owners of those stalls, along with their families and acquaintances, totalled 9,065 participants. Most of the buses were going to Kuningan and Sumedang in West Java.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno witnessed the departure of most of the buses.

"Food stalls play an important role in supporting the economy's real sector," he said.

Wahyudin, a 63-year-old father of four, said that he had been selling instant noodles before the Indomie brand even existed.

"I have been running a stall since 1975, and I began selling Indomie in 1978," he said.

The 1,620 construction workers and their families, departing from Jakarta Police headquarters, headed towards several major cities including, Purwokerto, Semarang, Solo, Yogyakarta, Malang, and Surabaya, using 36 buses provided by the company.

Jayaboard's president director, Gavin Burton, told reporters the free mudik service was one of the company's social responsibility programs

Australia, East Timor, RI FMs to meet in New York

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will have a meeting with his counterpart Hassan Wirajuda of Indonesia and Zacarias da Costa of East Timor in New York, US, this week, Antara news agency has reported.

In his press statement released in Brisbane on Monday, Smith said that several regional issues would be discussed int the trilateral meeting, held on the sidelines of 63rd UN General Assembly.

Smith, however, did not give further details on the issues to be discussed.

Earlier this month, Australia played down Thursday the possibility that ties between the two neighbors would be strained by the Australian Police's re-investigation of the deaths of five journalists in East Timor in 1975.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the new investigation should not continue and that Australia should focus on its future relationship with Indonesia. Jakarta has refused to cooperate with Australia in the re-investigation.

Toe the line

Around 6,000 people queue at the State Palace to greet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his family during an open house held in conjunction with Idul Fitri on Sunday. The well wishers had to show coupons to meet the president.

Aceh govt refuses to sign stoning by law

The Aceh provincial government will not sign the controversial Islamic bylaw allowing adulterers to be stoned to death, an official said.

Hamid Zein, the head of the legal bureau of the Aceh governor’s office, said Thursday that the administration has firmly rejected the bylaw passed by the legislative council on Monday.

“As long as the executive and legislative bodies do not settle differences in the application of [capital punishment by] stoning, the Aceh government will not sign the bylaw,” Hamid said.

In the deliberation he said government representatives had repeatedly stated objections to the inclusion of the stoning penalty for adulterers in the Islamic criminal code (jinayat). Aceh is the country’s only province with special provisions allowing it to have Islamic sharia-based laws.

However, following initial endorsement of the bylaw, Home Minister Mardiyanto said the government would file a review to the Supreme Court, saying it was “detrimental” to Acehnese and would “frighten” visitors and investors, as well as possibly not respecting the [national] constitution.

His statement signaled the first time the central government had intervened in the issuance of rules and legislation by the Aceh administration and council.

The National Commission on Violence against Women has gone further, calling for a judicial review of the 2006 law on Aceh’s governance that provided its authority to issue sharia-based laws, saying that the bylaw was contrary to human rights.

Governor Irwandi Yusuf on Thursday declined to comment.

“The administration’s stance is clear, it’s better for me not to comment now,” he said in a text message.

Earlier his deputy Muhammad Nazar among others said the government sought a “more educational” penalty than stoning.

Aceh’s ulema said it was the government’s obligation to sign the bylaw, or qanun. Faisal Ali, secretary general of the Aceh Association of Ulema (HUDA), said the bylaw was formulated by legal experts on Islam, and that there was nothing to fear from it.

Regarding the capital punishment by stoning for adulterers, both Muslim or non Muslim, he said the requirements were very strict.

“The implementation of the stoning penalty is not easy and needs four witnesses with strict requirements, such as being honest and proven to have a clean track record, he said. With consistent implementation of the criminal code, he said, there would be no need for the stoning penalty.

“If the government does not sign the bylaw there could be a backlash,” Faisal said.

Besides, he said, the criminal code has already accommodated international conventions, such as those pertaining to the protection of women and children.

Among laws and conventions referred to as the basis of the bylaw is the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The bylaw’s section on its rationale includes among other reasons public “euphoria”, referring to at least 20 cases of “people’s trials” since 1999, mainly regarding assault but including parading of unmarried couples caught together, or people caught gambling or consuming alcohol. One of the bylaw’s purposes is to avoid such occurrences, the explanatory section says.

Indonesia to make the most of G20 Summit

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will head to Pittsburgh, United States, next week for the third G20 Leaders Summit, where he is expected to "voice the interests" of developing countries and fight for the forum's permanency.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said Thursday at a press conference that during the Sept. 24-25 meeting of the leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies, Indonesia would voice the interests of developing countries.

He said Indonesia also hoped the summit would not exclude climate change issues in its agenda, with the COP 15 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen coming up in December.

"We also want an acceleration in the reforms of multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank," Dino said.

"The process is ongoing, but we want it to be accelerated.

"And Indonesia wants the G20 to explore other issues such as aid effectiveness and food and energy security," he added.

"These are important things for Indonesia."

Dino said the summit would follow up on the results of the previous two meetings, including on multilateral banks' reforms and financial sector reforms, including the changing of the financial stability forum into the financial stability board.

"The G20 leaders are also expected to make a stronger base for the global economic recovery and global economic activities in the future, to make the world economy more sustainable, and to take social issues into consideration," Dino said.

He added Indonesia would also fight for the G20 forum to be made permanent and institutionalized, with members still arguing over which forum to grant permanency to: the G8, G14 or the G20.

"The economic landscape has now changed. The global economic growth is now boosted not by the US or Europe, but by Asia; by India, China, as well as Indonesia," Dino said.

"It is a heated debate. We hope the direction will be clearer in Pittsburgh."

During the trip, Yudhoyono will hold bilateral talks with new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Australian PM Kevin Rudd.

After three days in Pittsburgh, the President will be in Boston from Sept. 26 to 29, during which he will meet with CEOs of 200 companies, speak on "Harmony of Civilization" at Harvard University, and greet Indonesian students and citizens living in the city.

Yudhoyono will be accompanied by a handful of Cabinet ministers.

Secret Ways to Buy Wow Accounts

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Transforming RI's telecom tower industry

Indonesia's mobile telephony industry, with 11, is one of the most vibrant in the region. The large potential market, the third largest in Asia, has attracted five foreign mobile operators, which have brought in much-needed capital and expertise.

Indonesia's mobile industry is also fairly unique compared with its immediate neighbors on two counts.

It has a large number of code divisions multiple access (CDMA) operators as well as limited mobility telcos. The limited mobility operators have carved out a strong niche, with about a 13 percent subscriber market share, alongside predominantly GSM-based mobile operators. Seven out of the twelve operators employ the CDMA platform, commanding almost 16 percent of the subscriber market.

Only India is similar to Indonesia, in that it has limited mobility and CDMA-based cellcos competing with GSM operators. The other similarity is the vastness of both countries and the challenging economics to reach out to every consumer.

Indonesia's mobile subscriber growth is the highest in the region, with unique user penetration doubling over the last two years to 38 percent. Three of its largest operators now boast population coverage of over 90 percent, while the smaller GSM operators combined cover an estimated 70 percent.

More importantly, their participation has contributed to healthy competition, and helped drive industry revenue per minute down by 85 percent over the last two years. Lower rates, coupled with cheaper handsets, mean that more Indonesians can afford mobile telephony.

A more recent trend has been the adoption of an asset-light strategy by mobile operators, by selling off their towers, focusing on acquiring customers, and operating and marketing a mobile business.

To date, Bakrie Telecom, Mobile-8 and Hutchison Indonesia have done so. Telkom plans to house its towers under a company. Indosat is considering leasing its towers to rivals.

Excelcomindo's attempt to dispose of its towers, which would have made it the largest transaction, was scuttled by the global financial crisis. The funds raised are being ploughed back into business expansion, by leasing the civil infrastructure from independent tower operators or companies owned by their rivals.

There are numerous independent tower operators in Indonesia, operating as few as tens of towers to a few thousands. A tower-leasing industry is quickly emerging, but more needs to be done.

While regulations encourage foreign investments in Indonesian mobile operators, it is more difficult for foreigners to participate in tower companies. Only 100 percent locally-owned companies can own and manage towers. But companies publicly listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange are considered locally owned.

However, companies typically need a track record to list. In contrast, India's liberal stance on the ownership of tower companies has attracted numerous foreign investors, who have pumped in US$2.7billion into six tower companies to date.

Demand for towers and tower space in Indonesia is set to boom.

Firstly, network capacity needs to be upgraded to meet rising traffic volumes, which are surging on the back of rapid subscriber growth and increasing voice usage.

Assuming subscribers double and usage per subscriber increase a further 50 percent over the next five years, industry traffic should triple over this period.

The higher capacity needed would require more towers.

Secondly, wireless broadband in the form of HSDPA and the soon-to-be launched WiMAX will further fuel the demand for tower space. And lastly, telco networks need to be expanded to blanket this vast archipelago and towers play a crucial role. Currently, only one telco covers more than 95 percent of the population, and two with more than 90 percent.

All this raises the question of whether domestic players and capital have the ability to meet industry requirements.

The government needs to reconsider its ruling on foreign participation in tower companies. Tower infrastructure is the one of the most capital-intensive parts of a telecom business, comprising about 10-15 percent of a telco's investment. More importantly, foreign participation in the tower industry could bring in much-needed capital and expertise to enhance the telecom industry in Indonesia.

Foreign capital will further help tower operators and telcos expand their networks to the outer islands of Indonesia.

Greater competition among tower companies will lead to lower rental rates, and help reduce the operating costs of telcos, making it feasible for them to expand to less densely populated parts of the country.

Fauzi's free sembako, cash distribution turns ugly

Two people were hospitalized and dozens others injured after a free gift distribution by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo at the City Hall on Monday morning ended with a stampede.

Thousands, most of them women and their children, fought their way to get 6,000 packages of staple foodstuff (sembako) and Rp 40,000 cash gift at an open house, held to celebrate Idul Fitri holiday, hosted by the governor.

Two people, Satneh (38) and Dartin (50), had to be taken at Tarakan Hospital after the incident.

At the time of writing, hundreds were still lining up for the package.

NALCO considering alternative site for Indonesia project

India's state-run aluminium producer National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) is considering an alternative site for its $4-billion Indonesia project, which was earlier planned to be set up in South Sumatra province.

"Although a site in the South Sumatra province was selected for the project, the Indonesian government has yet to award the concession of the port and rail," NALCO director (finance) BL Bagra said.

NALCO had last year signed a deal with the Indonesian government for setting up a 500,000-tonne smelter and a 1,250-MW captive power plant.

Construction works at the project site were expected to start in 2010.

"The site was selected with an assurance by the local government that they will award the concession of the port and rail. But they are not able to do that yet," Bagra said.

NALCO is now considering Kalimantan area of Indonesia to set up the plant.

"We are exploring this site. Pre-visibility study of this location just completed two weeks ago," Bagra said.

"We hope within next six months, we will be able to finalise either South Sumatra or Kalimantan."

Top Terrorism Fugitive Killed

The Indonesia Police Headquarters finally confirms that the main terrorism suspect Noordin M. Top has been killed during the ambush in Solo, Central Java. He was killed along with two other terrorist suspects.

"Noordin M. Top is dead," said the head of the Indonesia Police General Bambang Hendarso Danuri in a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday, Sept. 17. He then added that they found identical finger prints to Noordin's finger prints which have been listed since nine years ago in the police fugitive list.

The ambush was started on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 11 p.m. The police force Special Detachment 88 surrounded a house in Kepohsari village, Jebres, Solo, Central Java.

The siege ended at 5:30 a.m. local time, showing a surprising outcome. "Four men died, three are still alive," said the Police spokesperson Inspector General Nanan Sukarna today.

Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri also said that they are waiting for the DNA test result in the next 30 hours to confirm the identities of the bodies.

Major earthquake jolts Indonesia

A strong earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismologist agency said.

The quake struck at 6:06 a.m. and was centred in the Indian Ocean, about 101 km south-east of Nusadua on Bali, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

It occurred 36 km beneath the seabed, but the quake did not trigger a tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage from the quake, the second strong earthquake to jolts Indonesia within several hours.

Another 6.4-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesian islands on North Maluku province about five hours earlier on late Friday. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, sits along the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

On Sep 2, a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck West Java province, killing more than 70 people and leaving dozens of others missing. Hundreds of others were injured and tens of thousands of homes were damaged.

A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province and half a million people homeless.

Magnitude-6.4 quake jolts Bali, injuring seven

An earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali Saturday, triggering panic among tourists and residents.

At least seven people were injured, most of them with broken bones, said Rusyam Pakaya of the Health Ministry's crisis centre. He said no deaths had been reported.

Residents and visitors ran out of their homes or hotels in panic when the quake struck Indonesia's most popular tourist destination at 6.06 a.m. (2306 GMT Friday).

'Guests who were having breakfast ran to the garden in panic,' said Luh Ketut Agi, an employee at a five-star hotel in the upscale Nusa Dua tourist area.

'Luckily, no one was injured, and there's no damage to the hotel,' she said.

The quake's epicentre was in the Indian Ocean about 101 kilometres south-east of Nusa Dua, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

It occurred 36 kilometres beneath the seabed, but the quake did not trigger a tsunami. It was the second strong earthquake to jolt Indonesia within several hours.

Another magnitude-6.4 quake struck the eastern Indonesian islands of North Maluku province about five hours earlier. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, sits along the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

On Sep 2, a powerful magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck West Java province, killing more than 70 people and leaving dozens missing. Hundreds of people were injured, and tens of thousands of homes were damaged.

A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004 off Indonesia's Sumatra island, leading to the deaths of more than 230,000 people across the Indian Ocean. In Indonesia's Aceh province alone, more than 170,000 people died.