5.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia’s Maluku province, no tsunami warning issued

Representational image (Photo: IStock)


An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia’s Maluku province on Tuesday, according to the meteorology and geophysics agency.

The tremor felt with the epicentre at 126 km southwest Buru district and the shallow at 10 km under sea bed, agency official Alfart Abubakar told media.

The quake did not trigger a tsunami, the official said.

Over 100 houses were damaged after a 6.8-magnitude quake jolted nearby North Maluku province earlier this month, national disaster management agency said.

Last year, in September, at least 23 people were killed and over 100 injured after a strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s remote islands.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

Nearly 60,000 people are still living in makeshift accommodation nearly a year after the double disaster, the Red Cross last month.

In 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake jolted the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.

Indonesia is frequently hit by earthquakes as it sits on a vulnerable quake-impacted zone called “the Pacific Ring of Fire”.