JAKARTA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake struck Papua in eastern Indonesia on Friday, although there was no potential to cause a tsunami and no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, officials said.

The epicentre of the magnitude 6.0 quake was 3 km (2 miles) east of Manokwari and at a depth of 35 km, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on its website.

"There are no reports of damage so far and there are not likely to be any casualties because it is not as densly populated as Java," said Jaya Murjaya, an official at Indonesia's meteorology agency. Java is Indonesia's main island.

An official at Indonesia's national disaster agency said the body also had not received any reports of damage but it was still checking with officials in the remote area.

The quake caused some panic and there was an electricity blackout in the Monokwari area, Metro TV reported.

The TV station initially reported a building had collapsed, although it later quoted a witness as saying some buildings had suffered cracks but did not appear to have been flattened.

About an hour after the Papua quake, the USGS recorded a magnitude 5.1 quake near Wewak in northern Papua New Guinea, east of Papua.

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 killed more than 1,000 people in an area around Padang in Western Sumatra last month.

Indonesia and neighbouring Papua New Guinea are situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire" where several tectonic plates meet.

(Reporting by Telly Nathalia and Olivia Rondonuwu; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Paul Tait)

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