Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert Tuesday following a magnitude 7.3 undersea earthquake that struck off Flores Island, triggering panic in a area susceptible to deadly quakes however apparently inflicting no injury or casualties.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake hit at a depth of 18.5 kilometers beneath the ocean, and was situated 112 kilometers north of the city of Maumere, the second-largest on the island in East Nusa Tenggara province with a inhabitants of 85,000.
After an preliminary tsunami alert, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and later Indonesia’s company lifted the warning hours after the quake.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari stated residents within the space felt the earthquake strongly. TV footage confirmed individuals operating away from buildings that shook from the influence.
The chief of Flores Timur district, Anton Hayon, stated no injury was reported.
“We asked people in the coastal areas to get away from the beach lines, especially in the northern side … as there was a big tsunami there back in 1972,” Hayon stated.
He added that residents had joined a tsunami drill earlier than and so they know what to do.
Indonesia, an enormous archipelago of 270 million individuals, is steadily struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault strains that arcs the Pacific.
The final main earthquake was in January, a magnitude 6.2 that killed not less than 105 individuals and injured practically 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.
