A magnitude earthquake of 7.7 struck the coast of Indonesia this Friday (14), followed by several aftershocks, the EMSC (Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre) reported, leading the country’s geophysics agency to issue a preliminary tsunami warning.
According to the agency, the tremor occurred at a depth of 35 kilometers. The same tremor was recorded with a magnitude of 7.7 and a depth of 10 kilometers by the USGS (United States Geological Survey). The USGS also recorded that three aftershocks, with magnitudes of 5.9, 5.6, and 6.1, occurred in sequence. The BMKG (Indonesia’s geophysics agency) issued a preliminary tsunami warning for some regions of the country. The initial earthquake was followed by two strong aftershocks in the same region, with magnitudes of 5.6 and 5.9, and the tsunami warning has already been lifted. Simultaneously, Australia’s tsunami warning center reported that the undersea earthquake does not represent a tsunami threat to the mainland territory, islands, or Australian territories.
Victims, Damage and Evacuations
At least two people died during the tremor. The information was confirmed by the head of the Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Center, Berton Panjaitan, in a press conference for journalists, CNN Indonesia confirmed. There is no information yet regarding injuries and material damage. Initial USGS estimates, based on the intensity of the tremor, indicate the possibility of victims and damage, although the Indonesian government has not yet commented on the matter. The USGS impact assessment system estimates that about 500,000 people were exposed to very strong or severe tremors, capable of causing light to moderate damage to well-built structures and severe damage to poorly built structures.
After the tremors, authorities asked residents of coastal areas of Flores island to immediately move to higher ground due to a tsunami warning, which has since been canceled.
Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), strongly recommended that communities along the northern coast of Flores, the southern areas in the southern islands, and throughout the southern region carry out an immediate self-evacuation.
Seismic History
Earthquakes are common in this region. Since 1950, there have been 37 other earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more, according to the USGS. Indonesia has recorded several devastating earthquakes in the past. The country is located on the Ring of Fire, a belt around the Pacific Ocean that generates frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. It is one of the areas of highest seismic activity in the world, extending from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific to California and South America on the other.
The deadliest earthquake ever recorded in Indonesia hit the island of Sumatra in 2004; with a magnitude of 9.1, the quake caused the deaths of more than 220,000 people along the Indian Ocean coast. More than half of these victims were in Indonesia. More recently, hundreds of people died when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the island of Lombok in August 2018. At the end of that same month, a series of intense earthquakes shook several islands in the South Pacific and Indonesia. In September of that year, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a tsunami hit the island of Sulawesi, causing the deaths of hundreds of other people. In November 2022, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit the Cianjur region in West Java, also leaving hundreds dead.
