6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes Banda Sea, off Indonesia
07 May, 2020
A robust earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Wednesday (May 6), leading to some residents to flee their homes, but there have been no immediate reports of damage and the country's meteorology agency ruled out the risk of a tsunami.
The magnitude 6.9 quake struck in the Banda Sea, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, and was at a depth of 117km. The US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.8.
The earthquake was not capable of generating a tsunami affecting the Indian Ocean region, the Indonesia Tsunami Service Provider said.
A resident on the island of Kisar in Maluku province said they felt the earthquake for a couple minutes and said persons ran from the houses in panic.
"People were asleep, we screamed. People ran because of the quake, beds shook," said Oce Karmomyana, who said there's been no damage.
An AFP journalist in Dili, East Timor, about 400km away, reported feeling a slight tremor.
Indonesia is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is generally hit by earthquakes that are sometimes accompanied by tsunamis.
The most devastating in recent Indonesian history was on Dec 26 in 2004, when a magnitude 9.5 quake triggered an enormous tsunami that killed around 226,000 persons along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, including a lot more than 126,000 in Indonesia.
In 2018, a tsunami hit the town of Palu in Sulawesi island, killing thousands.
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