Jakarta - An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck Monday evening off the northern tip of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, but there were no immediate reports of injury and damage, officials said.

The quake at a depth of 35 kilometres near the Talaud islands between Sulawesi and the southern Philippines occurred at 9:16 pm (1416 GMT), the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

Officials said there were no immediate reports of injury or structural damage from the quake, another strong earthquake to hit the region in less than one month.

A powerful 7.4-magnitude quake jolted the same area on February 12, injuring dozens of people and damaging hundreds of buildings.

Indonesia sits in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of fault lines and volcanoes noted for seismic activity.

In December 2004, a powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 170,000 in Indonesia's Aceh province alone. (dpa)