Strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia, killing two
✓A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing two people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes.
Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning, but it has since been lifted.
The shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km at 5.58am local time, according to the US Geological Survey, followed by two aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.
“At this point there are two reported fatalities” – a man and a woman, disaster agency spokesperson Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta, adding that authorities were still determining the full extent of the damage.
The epicentre of the quake was located off the north coast of Flores island, about 68km (42 miles) northwest of the coastal town of Ende, US and Indonesian authorities said.
Residents in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, raced for higher ground immediately after the earthquake.
“Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” 31-year-old hospital customer service official, Lukas Lotar told AFP. “Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked,” he added.
Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the quake hit.
“The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” he said.
“People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being … and trying to get to the hills,” he said, adding: “My family is safe. No one was harmed.”
Authorities issued a tsunami warning but later lifted it when Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) said monitoring showed no significant sea level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.
“We have ended (the tsunami warning) but we will keep monitoring the sea level,” said BMKG earthquake and tsunami director Wijayanto.
Images broadcast on Indonesian television showed hundreds of people in nearby Nagekeo regency evacuating the area surrounded by the rubble of damaged buildings.
The quake was felt across much of Flores island with initial reports indicating heavy damage.
Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, a regency within East Nusa Tenggara province, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.
“Many buildings here were damaged … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because of its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Separately, Australia’s tsunami warning centre said the undersea earthquake will have “no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories”.
*With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Read the full story at Sky News ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
Shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region early on Saturday, prompting thousands to seek higher ground. A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on…
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A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing two people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes.
Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning, but it has since been lifted.
The shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km at 5.58am local time, according to the US Geological Survey, followed by two aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.
“At this point there are two reported fatalities” – a man and a woman, disaster agency spokesperson Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta, adding that authorities were still determining the full extent of the damage.
The epicentre of the quake was located off the north coast of Flores island, about 68km (42 miles) northwest of the coastal town of Ende, US and Indonesian authorities said.
Residents in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, raced for higher ground immediately after the earthquake.
“Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” 31-year-old hospital customer service official, Lukas Lotar told AFP. “Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked,” he added.
Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the quake hit.
“The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” he said.
“People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being … and trying to get to the hills,” he said, adding: “My family is safe. No one was harmed.”
Authorities issued a tsunami warning but later lifted it when Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) said monitoring showed no significant sea level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.
“We have ended (the tsunami warning) but we will keep monitoring the sea level,” said BMKG earthquake and tsunami director Wijayanto.
Images broadcast on Indonesian television showed hundreds of people in nearby Nagekeo regency evacuating the area surrounded by the rubble of damaged buildings.
The quake was felt across much of Flores island with initial reports indicating heavy damage.
Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, a regency within East Nusa Tenggara province, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.
“Many buildings here were damaged … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because of its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Separately, Australia’s tsunami warning centre said the undersea earthquake will have “no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories”.
*With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Read the full story at Sky News ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing two people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes.
Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning, but it has since been lifted.
The shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km at 5.58am local time, according to the US Geological Survey, followed by two aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.
“At this point there are two reported fatalities” – a man and a woman, disaster agency spokesperson Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta, adding that authorities were still determining the full extent of the damage.
The epicentre of the quake was located off the north coast of Flores island, about 68km (42 miles) northwest of the coastal town of Ende, US and Indonesian authorities said.
Residents in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, raced for higher ground immediately after the earthquake.
“Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” 31-year-old hospital customer service official, Lukas Lotar told AFP. “Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked,” he added.
Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the quake hit.
“The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” he said.
“People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being … and trying to get to the hills,” he said, adding: “My family is safe. No one was harmed.”
Authorities issued a tsunami warning but later lifted it when Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) said monitoring showed no significant sea level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.
“We have ended (the tsunami warning) but we will keep monitoring the sea level,” said BMKG earthquake and tsunami director Wijayanto.
Images broadcast on Indonesian television showed hundreds of people in nearby Nagekeo regency evacuating the area surrounded by the rubble of damaged buildings.
The quake was felt across much of Flores island with initial reports indicating heavy damage.
Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, a regency within East Nusa Tenggara province, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.
“Many buildings here were damaged … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because of its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Separately, Australia’s tsunami warning centre said the undersea earthquake will have “no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories”.
*With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Read the full story at Sky News ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
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- Shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region early on Saturday, prompting thousands to seek higher ground.
- A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on…