An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia’s North Maluku province on Thursday, but did not trigger a tsunami alert, the meteorology and geophysics agency said.
The agency initially issued the quake at 7.1 magnitude before revising it down to 6.8, Wahyu Kurniawan, official in charge at the agency, according to the reports.
The tremor felt on Thursday afternoon with the epicentre at 89 km northwest Daruba village of Pulau Marotai district and the depth at 112 km under sea bed, the official said.
No tsunami warning has been issued so far.
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”.