. | . |
Indonesia cancels tsunami alert after strong quake by Staff Writers Jakarta (AFP) July 7, 2019 A strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off Indonesia on Sunday, the US Geological Survey 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. Earthquakes and tsunamis have claimed thousands of lives in recent years. Sunday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres in the Molucca Sea, 185 kilometres southeast of Manado, between Sulawesi and Malkuku 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 AFP. "It was very strong -- I ran from my house and all my neighbours fled too." Video footage from Ternate showed scared residents -- some clutching children -- fleeing from the coast on motorbikes. Hasyim Yusuf, the head of the Ternate disaster mitigation agency, said there were no reports of fatalities, but some people were "traumatised" 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. It has been hit by a string of deadly quakes including a devastating 2004 tremor measuring 9.1 magnitude that struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia. The Boxing Day disaster was the world's third biggest quake since 1900, and lifted the ocean floor in some places by 15 metres (50 feet). Indonesia's Aceh province was the hardest hit area, but the tsunami affected coastal areas as far away as Africa.
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |