Indonesia is shaken by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake, triggering a tsunami warning; Australia felt the tremors. Indonesia is on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean that is where the
majority of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. Early Tuesday, a powerful deep-sea earthquake that was felt widely in northern Australia caused widespread damage to village buildings in an island chain in eastern Indonesia with few inhabitants.
In the Tanimbar islands, two school buildings and 15 homes were damaged, with one home severely damaged and three moderately damaged. Only one resident was reported injured.
“For three to five seconds, local residents felt powerful tremors. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari, citing the local agency, stated in a statement, “There was panic when the quake shook, so the residents left their homes.”
According to data from 2021, the magnitude 7.6 quake’s epicenter was in the Banda Sea, close to the 127,000-person Tanimbar islands in Maluku province. Several areas, including the provinces of Papua and East Nusa Tenggara, as well as northern Australia, felt the tremors.
A tsunami warning was issued by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia, but it was lifted three hours later.
Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of the agency, stated, “Based on four tide gauge observations around the center of the earthquake, it did not show any significant anomaly or change in sea level.”
The earthquake’s epicenter was located 65 miles (105 kilometers) from Australia’s northern tip, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Compared to shallow shaking, deeper quakes typically cause less damage to the surface but are felt more widely.
Geoscience Australia received reports of the quake from over 1,000 people in northern Australia, including Darwin. According to the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, neither the mainland nor any of the islands or territories were in danger from the tsunami.
On Twitter, Australian singer Vassy wrote that it was her longest earthquake ever.
“We ran out of the house in the middle of the night. I’ve never felt an earthquake that strong and lasted that long. Vassy wrote, “It was pretty scary.” We were awoken in the middle of the night by it.
Indonesia is on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean that is responsible for the majority of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country experiences frequent earthquakes.