The quake struck shortly after 1:00 p.m. local time. A strong earthquake of magnitude 7 struck the Moluccas islands in eastern Indonesia on Wednesday, the USGS seismological institute reported.
The quake’s epicenter was located 150 kilometers northwest of the eastern island of Halmahera in the Moluccas archipelago, at a depth of 48 kilometers, the USGS said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) added that tsunami waves were “possible” up to 300 kilometers around the epicenter.
Beware of replicas
The quake, initially measured at magnitude 7.2, was later recorded at 7.0 by the USGS.
The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) warned of possible aftershocks.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide.
On November 21, 602 people died in a magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck the densely populated province of West Java on the main island of Java.
Indonesia’s deadliest earthquake, striking off Sumatra on December 26, 2004, killed more than 230,000 people as far afield as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand and triggered tidal waves reaching 30 meters in height off the coast of Indonesia. Banda Aceh, North Sumatra. It was magnitude 9.1.
Source: BFM TV
