6.9-tremor rocks Indonesia; no deaths, injuries reported
Credit to Author: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE| Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2019 16:17:49 +0000
JAKARTA: A strong magnitude 6.9-earthquake struck off Indonesia on Sunday (Monday in Manila), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported, triggering a brief tsunami warning that sent panicked residents fleeing to higher ground.
The Southeast Asian nation is one of the most disaster-hit on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide. The tremor happened Sunday at 11:08 p.m. (12:08 a.m. Monday in Manila).
Earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia have claimed thousands of lives in recent years.
Sunday’s quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometers in the Molucca Sea, 185 kilometers southeast of Manado, between the Sulawesi and Maluku Islands, according to the USGS.
Indonesia’s geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning for coastal communities nearby, where residents were advised to stay away from the coast.
The warning was later lifted by the agency and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Residents of Ternate in the Maluku Island chain described panic as the quake hit.
“I was getting ready to sleep when the window started rattling,” Budi Nurgianto told the Agence France-Presse.
“It was very strong. I ran from my house and all my neighbors fled too.”
Video footage from Ternate showed scared residents — some clutching children — fleeing from the coast on motorbikes.
Hasyim Yusuf, head of the Ternate disaster mitigation agency, said there were no reports of fatalities, but some people were “traumatized” by the tremor.
“In Ternate, people were panicking and some evacuated to higher ground,” he told Metro TV.
An official from Indonesia’s geophysics agency, Ot Oral Sem Wilar, said he felt the tremor strongly from where he was holidaying in North Sulawesi.
“My friends in Manado said people, who live along the coastal area are evacuating.”
The USGS warned that considerable damage was possible in poorly built or badly designed structures.
Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi Island killed more than 2,200, with a thousand more declared missing.
AFP
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