Earthquake rocks Indonesia's Maluku islands

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JAKARTA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude jolted the Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia on Saturday but there were no reports of casualties or damage, the meteorology agency and residents said.

The epicentre was 128 km (79 miles) northwest of Saumlaki town in Northwest Maluku district at a depth of 100 km, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said in a text message.

The quake was unlikely to trigger a tsunami given its depth, said Fauzi, the head of the agency's earthquake centre.

An official at the Fatima hospital in Saumlaki said there was no panic there.

"We have not received any patients from the earthquake and there's no damage around here," Rosa Batmomolin told Reuters by telephone.

A resident, Gulman, told Elshinta radio the quake was felt strongly.

"It was unusual. My chair rocked and the lamps swayed," he said.

Indonesia lies on the Pacific Rim's "ring of fire", a zone prone to seismic upheavals. (Reporting by Telly Nathalia and Muhamad Al Azhari; writing by Ahmad Pathoni; editing by Andrew Dobbie)