7.6-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia, tsunami warning
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A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the depths of the ocean off Indonesia and East Timor early Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey.
The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was 427 km south of the Indonesian island of Ambon, at a depth of 95 km.
The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported some aftershocks of magnitude 5.5.
“I was in bed and then I felt a little shaking. I woke up and discovered that many of my friends felt it too,” Hamdi, an Indonesian in Ambon, told AFP.
The Indonesian Geophysics Agency initially warned of a possible tsunami, but then lifted the warning.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic activity due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide.
On November 21, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the densely populated West Java province on the main island of Java, killing 602 people.
A major earthquake off Sumatra on December 26, 2004 triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed more than 230,000 people as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
This powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake caused waves 100 feet high to crash into Banda Aceh Beach in Sumatra.