The USGS Geophysics Institute has announced that a strong earthquake measuring 7.6 was registered off the coast of Indonesia.
According to seismologists, the epicenter would be exactly 148 km northeast of the Tenggara Barat district, at a submarine depth of 131 km, along the eastern coast. The tsunami warning was immediately issued for the province of Maluku and for the neighboring province of Sulawesi, later withdrawn by the authorities.
Areas with alert status are Southeast Moluccas, West Seram, East Seram, Buru, Wakatobio, Kendari, Watulumango Island, Kendari Islands, South Konawe, Kendari City, Kendari.
The shock was so strong that it was also felt in Darwin, on the north coast of Australia. The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) has reported some aftershocks of magnitude 5.5.
Indonesia, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area where tectonic plates collide, is a highly seismic area. On November 21, an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 occurred on the main island of Java: 602 people died. In 2004, the 9.1 magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that claimed 230,000 lives in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
(news being updated)
