JAKARTA - A 5.9-MAGNITUDE quake hit off the Indonesian island of Sumatra early on Wednesday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, and no tsunami warning was issued.

The earthquake struck at 2.49 am (3.49 am Singapore time), 136 kilometres southwest of Bengkulu, the US Geological Survey said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii did not issue an alert for the region after the tremor, which struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

Indonesia was the country worst hit by the earthquake-triggered tsunami in December 2004 that killed more than 200,000 people in 11 nations across Asia, including more than 168,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.

The Indonesian archipelago straddles several continental plates in an area known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, where seismic and volcanic activity is recorded on an almost daily basis. -- AFP