An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck eastern Indonesia’s Maluku islands on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami warning, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The epicentre of the tremor was situated at a depth of 48 kilometers, 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera.
“Dangerous tsunami waves are possible for coasts within 300 kilometers of the earthquake epicentre,” the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii warned following the tremor.
The quake struck at 13:06 p.m. local time (0606 GMT). The initial magnitude of 7.2 reported by the USGS was scaled down.
The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) have issued a warning about probable aftershocks.
Because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates intersect, Indonesia sees frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck West Java province on Indonesia’s main island of Java on November 21, killing 602 people.
The majority of those deceased were killed when buildings fell or in landslides caused by the earthquake.
On December 26, 2004, a huge earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 230,000 people as far away as Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
The massive 9.1-magnitude quake produced 100-foot waves on the Sumatran island of Banda Aceh.
