Indonesia Tsunami Warning
A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the Maluku Island in eastern Indonesia on Saturday sparking a tsunami warning up to 300 kilometers away and causing panicked people to flee their homes.
The eastern Indonesia received a powerful earthquake with 7.3 magnitudes with the warning of generating hazardous tsunami waves along the nearby coasts. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit at 10:31 Saturday morning, 96 miles northwest of Kota Ternate at a depth of 29 miles. According to the Pacific Tsunami warning Center, tsunami waves will drastically affect the coasts located within 300 kilometers. They further added that certain parts of Indonesia as well as Japan, Philippines, Taiwan as well as islands in the South pacific will be affected adversely.
The waves between 30 centimeters and one meter could hit the parts of Indonesia, while waves below 30 centimeters are expected for the coasts of the Philippines.The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arch of volcanoes and fault line in the Pacific Basin. There is no immediate report from causalities or any kind of damage.
If a tsunami occurs, the nearest communities of Tabukan Tengah on North Sulawesi could at risk within an hour. The waves could also reach as far as Okinawa in southern Japan, Taiwan, the U.S. territory of Guam, Marshall Islands in the Pacific, Solomon Island and Papau New Guinea within next six hours.People staying on the tiny Sangihe Islands, which lies close to the epicenter in Indonesia, ran out of their homes as the quake hit. People in the coastal areas felt the strong quake which lasted for some time and then they immediately went to the sea if any kind of abnormalities were recorded in the water, which is a sign of incoming tsunami.