A severe 7.4 magnitude seaquake in eastern Indonesia damaged around 350 houses on Tuesday. 800 people have become homeless, said a spokesman for the authorities on Wednesday. The quake hit the Selayar Islands south of Sulawesi particularly badly, said Abdul Muhari from the national emergency agency. Seven people were injured, there were no deaths.
The quake occurred on Tuesday noon (local time) about 110 kilometers northwest of the island of Flores. According to the Indonesian authorities, its center was around 12 kilometers deep. The US earthquake monitoring station (USGS) spoke of a depth of 18.5 kilometers. A tsunami warning for the entire region was lifted after a few hours.
In December 1992, a severe earthquake off the north coast of Flores triggered a tsunami. More than 2,000 people were killed. Even more serious was a seaquake of magnitude 9 off the island of Sumatra, which triggered huge tsunamis on St. Stephen’s Day in 2004. The brutal waves brought death and destruction to many coasts of the Indian Ocean. About 230,000 people were killed. The Southeast Asian island nation of Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the geologically most active zone on earth.
Accessed on December 15, 2021 at 7:46 am on https://www.sn.at/panorama/international/seebeben-in-indonesien-zerstoert-350-haeuser-114044641