An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale rocked eastern Indonesia Sunday, according to reports emanating from Indonesia. The same quake monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey put the intensity at 6.4 magnitude. The quake is reported to have struck Maluku, or Spice Islands, at 9:57 a.m. local time.
No tsunami warning was issued, though the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center indicated a small possibility of a tsunami along the coastlines within 62 miles of the epicenter of the quake. No deaths or injuries were reported thus far.
On Saturday, a 6.5-magnitude moderate quake shook Manokwari in West Papua province, with no casualties or damage reported.
The quake struck at a depth of about 52 km or 32 miles at sea. The epicenter of the quake was 285 km or 180 miles southeast of Ternate, and 2,415 km or 1,500miles east of the Indonesia's capital Jakarta. Moluccas is 760 miles northwest of Darwin, Australia.
The Maluku Islands, also known as the Moluccas or Spice Islands, are an archipelago in Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. The islands are located on the Halmahera Plate tectonically, within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically, it is situated to the east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north of Timor.
Indonesia falls along the Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing high volcanic and seismic activity. Indonesia has been recently rocked by a series of quakes, apart from the two quakes in the last two days. In September, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck in late September off the western coast of Sumatra, killing thousands and leaving hundreds injured.
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