Strong earthquake kills 3, causes damage in Indonesia's East Java province

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked East Java province in western parts of Indonesia earlier Thursday, leaving three people dead and scores of houses damaged, officials said.

The quake did not have potential for tsunami and centered at 61 km northeast of Situbondo and with a depth of 10 km under seabed, an official, Muhaimin, told Xinhua over phone.

The jolts hit the worst at Gayam sub-district of Sumenep district, leaving three people dead and scores of houses there and beyond the area destroyed, spokesman of the national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho revealed.

"The victims were hit by the debris of collapsing buildings when they were sleeping so that they could not escape," he told Xinhua in a text message.

Assessment on further downside risks of the natural disaster is underway, Sutopo cited.

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