(Adds detail on damages, background)

JAKARTA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A 6.2 magnitude undersea quake jolted the easternmost end of Indonesia on Monday, injuring six people and triggering fires in several homes but causing no deaths, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey placed the strong quake, shallow at only 35 km (21.7 miles) deep, at an epicentre at 8 km (5 miles) north of the coastal town of Manokwari in West Papua province.

"There are several houses on fire but we don't know yet how many exactly," Fauzi, head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's earthquake centre, told Reuters.

"The quake could have caused a short connection that ignited fire or stoves in use may have been tipped over."

Fauzi said the quake, which caused widespread panic, had cracked many houses and other buildings in Manokwari.

Elshinta radio reported that people had rushed out of their homes in panic towards higher ground, although no tsunami warning was issued.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an active seismic region where several tectonic plates meet, and is subjected to frequent tremors.

Last September, an 8.4 magnitude quake struck off the coast of western Sumatra, killing at least 25 people and damaging thousands of houses.

In 2004, a quake of more than 9 magnitude triggered monster waves that ravaged Aceh province in northern Sumatra, leaving 170,000 dead or missing. (Reporting by Mita Valina Liem, Adhityani Arga and Telly Nathalia in Jakarta and Sandra Maler in Washington; editing by Sugita Katyal and Roger Crabb)

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