Moderate quake jolts North Sulawesi

A magnitude-5 earthquake shook Talaud Islands in North Sulawesi early on Friday.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency reported that the quake's epicenter was located 21 kilometers northeast of the Talaud Islands regency's capital of Melonguane, at 37 kilometers beneath the surface.

The quake was the latest of a series of mild earthquakes that has hit the area in the past few months.

Earlier in December, two earthquakes, both of magnitude 5.5, hit the area.