JAKARTA, May 27 (NNN-ANTARA) – A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s eastern province of Maluku today, but there was no initial report of damage or casualties in the country, weather agency and disaster officials said.
The country’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, did not issue a warning for a tsunami, as the jolts did not potentially trigger giant waves.
The quake rocked at 9:36 a.m. local time, with the epicentre at 85 km south-west of Maluku Barat Daya district, with a depth of 104 km, the agency said.
The tremors were also felt in the nearby province of East Nusa Tenggara and the neighbouring Timor Leste, the agency said.
Senior officials in the quake-hit areas said, the tremors triggered panic among residents and were strongly felt in some areas, but there were no initial reports of damages or casualties.
However, they said, the risk assessment for the quake impacts was underway.
“So far, there were no houses or buildings destroyed or those wounded. But the personnel of local disaster agency keep conducting assessment of the impact,” Sandhy Luhulima, head of Emergency Unit of Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency in Maluku Province, said.
“The jolts were strongly felt here. Panic people ran out of their houses,” Frangky Letlora, a senior official at the disaster management and mitigation agency in Maluku Barat Daya district, said.
In East Nusa Tenggara province’s district of Alor, Richard Felt, a senior analyst at the provincial disaster management and mitigation agency, said, there were no preliminary reports of damage or casualties in the district.– NNN-ANTARA
