An earthquake of magnitude 7 was registered this Wednesday near the islands of Malaku, in eastern Indonesia. Authorities have issued a tsunami watch, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports, which has since been lifted.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the sea 150 kilometers northwest of the island of Halmahera, at a depth of 48 kilometers. So far, there are no reports of damage or casualties.
“Dangerous tsunami waves are possible off coasts located within 300 kilometers of the earthquake epicenter,” the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in a statement.
The scare was felt around 1:06 p.m. local time (6:06 a.m. in Lisbon). The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) warned of possible aftershocks.
Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as it is located on the so-called “ring of fire” in the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity, where thousands of earthquakes are recorded each year.
News updated at 07:19
Source: TSF
