7.3 Earthquake Hits Indonesia, Hazardous Tsunami Waves Possible

An earthquake of 7.3-magnitude on Tuesday (October 14) struck eastern Indonesia, with a brief warning of the possibility of tsunami waves before lifting the threat, the US Geological Survey said.

According to a report in NDTV, the epicentre of the quake was north of the Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia, where the earthquake ignited an instant terror in the late morning (0320 GMT).

Shockwaves Across Indonesia

Meanwhile, no significant damage or deaths have been reported so far from the location where the earthquake first struck, however, authorities have called to be cautious.

East Flores district head Antonius Hubertus Gege Hadjon told Metro TV:

"In the locations closest to epicentre... It's still safe there, there has been no damage."

Furthermore, Indonesian authorities have also suggested residents of affected areas not to panic and seek a safer location that is away from the shore.

The earthquake struck the Flores Sea at 18.5 kilometres (11 miles) depth, the USGS stated, identifying the epicentre around 100 kilometres north of Maumere. Meanwhile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center stated the earthquake no longer posed any threat of tsunamis after the previous warning about such waves were possible inside a 1,000 km radius of its epicentre.

The 'Ring Of Fire'

Indonesia is known for getting hit with frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions amid its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire". Out of all the deadly quakes in Indonesia, the 9.1-magnitude devastating earthquake in 2004 struck off the coast of Sumatra which then triggered a massive tsunami in the area that took the lives of 220,000 throughout the region, including approximately 170,000 people in Indonesia.

The Boxing Day disaster still remains one of the biggest natural disasters in the recent past. In 2020, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami struck Palu on Sulawesi island leaving more than 4,300 people missing or dead.

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