6.3-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Papua Province, No Tsunami Threat
A 9.1-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Aceh province in 2004
JAKARTA: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s eastern Papua region on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but experts said there was no tsunami threat.
The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 5:24 pm local time (0824 GMT). Its epicentre was about 193 km northwest of the Papuan city of Abepura.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre confirmed that there was no tsunami threat following the quake. No casualties or damage were reported so far.
The USGS had initially put the magnitude at 6.5 but later downgraded it to 6.3.
Indonesia is a vast archipelago located on the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” a region where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common due to the collision of tectonic plates.
Earlier, in January 2021, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands.
In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated the city of Palu on the same island, killing more than 2,200 people.
In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated Aceh province, killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia alone.
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