Lagatar24 Desk
Jakarta, Dec.14: The US Geological Survey reported that a 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, with monitors momentarily warning of the risk of dangerous tsunami waves before lowering the alarm.
The epicentre was north of the Indonesian island of Flores, in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, where the quake struck late in the morning, causing widespread panic (0320 GMT).
Residents in the concerned areas have been advised not to panic, but to seek shelter away from the beach.
The quake struck at a depth of 18.5 kilometres (11 miles) in the Flores Sea, with the epicentre around 100 kilometres north of Maumere, according to the USGS.
After previously warning that tsunamis may occur within a 1,000-kilometer radius of the epicentre, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake no longer posed a hazard.
Due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of severe seismic activity where tectonic plates meet that spans from Japan through Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific basin, Indonesia is subjected to regular earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake erupted off the coast of Sumatra in 2004 and caused a tsunami that killed 220,000 people across the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.
