Eastern Indonesia struck by earthquake

Friday, January 27, 2006

A major earthquake occurred at 1:58AM Saturday off the coast of Indonesia. It originated from the Banda Sea, roughly 195 kilometers from Ambon City. The earthquake measured 7.7 on the Richter Scale and occurred at a depth of about 341 kilometers said the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake sent people running for their lives as fears mounted that the quake might have caused a massive tsunami.

But good news came as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in an e-mail advisory, "this earthquake is located outside the Pacific. No destructive tsunami threat exists in the Pacific Ocean or elsewhere based on historical earthquake and tsunami data."

No deaths or major injuries have been reported as of yet.

In December of 2004, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 struck just off the coast of Sumatra, triggering a major tsunami, killing nearly 300,000 people and leaving millions more homeless.

Earthquakes frequently take place in the area due to it being positioned on a volcanically active region referred to as the The Ring of Fire.

Sources

"Magnitude 7.7 Offshore Earthquake (Update2)" — Bloomberg.com, January 28, 2006
"Magnitude-7.7 earthquake rocks eastern Indonesia" — The Hindu News, January 28, 2006
"Major earthquake hits near Indonesia" — The Age, January 28, 2006
"Earthquake rocks Eastern Indonesia" — Press Association Ltd, January 27, 2006
"Magnitude 7.7 - BANDA SEA 2006 January 27 16:58:48 UTC" — USGS, January 27, 2006

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