Jakarta (VNA) – An offshore earthquakewith a magnitude of 7.0 hit eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands on January 18, accordingto the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS gave a tsunami warning, but thenrecalled it.
The epicentre of the tremor was located 150kilometres northwest of the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera,at a depth of 48 kilometres.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre earlierreported that hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within300 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre.
The quake occurred around 13:06 (Vietnam time). The quake was revised down froman initial magnitude of 7.2 reported by the USGS.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned ofpossible aftershocks. However, AP reported that the agency did not issue any tsunamialert.
Indonesia experiences frequentseismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring ofFire", where tectonic plates collide.
On November 21,2022, a5.6-magnitude quake hit West Java province on Indonesia's main island of Java,killing 602 people. Most of the victims were killed when buildings collapsed or in landslidestriggered by the quake.
On December 26, 2004, a9.1-magnitude set off an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000people as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand./.
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