The damaged office of West Gane police precinct in Saketa, in Indonesia's North Maluku province, after an earthquake struck the area on July 14, 2019. (Photo: BNPB)
Hanoi (VNA) – A7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia’s eastern region on July 14 hasleft one woman in South Halmahera dead, the country’s disaster mitigation agencysaid on Twitter without giving further details.
The earthquake also damaged apolice station and several civilian houses, said Iksan Subur, an official of theagency based in the regency of South Halmahera, near the earthquake’sepicentre.
According to the US GeologicalSurvey (USGS), the quake occurred at a depth of 10 km at an area 168 kmsouth-southeast of Ternate in North Maluku province. It was followed by atleast seven aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 5.8, but caused no tsunamiwarning.
The Indonesia's meteorologyagency BMKG said the main quake was felt in other parts of Indonesia, includingcities on Sulawesi island and in Sorong on Papua island.
Last week, a 6.9 magnitudeearthquake struck Indonesia’s eastern North Maluku province, but caused nomajor damage.
Indonesia, one of the mostdisaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the Pacific "Ring ofFire", where tectonic plates collide and a large portion of the world’svolcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
Last September, a 7.5-magnitudequake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than2,200 with a thousand more declared missing.
In 2004, a big earthquake off thenorthern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the IndianOcean, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 168,000 inIndonesia.-VNA
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