A strong under-land quake measuring 6.1 Richter scale hit Bengkulu province of Sumatra Island earlier Saturday, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has reported.

The quake struck at 03:26 a.m. Jakarta time Saturday (GMT2026 Friday) with epicenter at 50 km northeast Bengkulu Utara and with the depth at 165 km under earth, Ali Imran, official in charge at the agency told Xinhua by phone.

"The quake was felt strong in Benggkulu Utara district for 2 to 3 second," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency told the Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) by phone after the quake.

He said that local officials were assessing the impact of the quake.

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