Magnitude 6.2 earthquake hits off Indonesia; no tsunami threat, no damages

Jakarta: A powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on Richter scale struck off the coast of Sulawesi island in Indonesia near Manado, on Wednesday morning, informed the US Geological Survey.

Powerful earthquake, MOLUCCA SEA, Sep-10 02:46 UTC, 0 #quake tweets/min, http://t.co/DRY71JGtfP — USGSted (@USGSted) September 10,

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USGS initially reported the quake's magnitude at 6.5 but later revised it down.

 

The quake occurred at 2:46 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on Wednesday at a depth of 22.5 kilometers (13 miles) and had its epicentre about 122 kilometers (76 miles) southeast of Mondayang, a town in northern Sulawesi.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency earthquake and tsunami chief Mochammad Riyadi said that the tremor was felt in the northern part of Sulawesi island, reported the AFP.

"There are no reports yet of damage or casualties so far, but people reported feeling the quake. We are monitoring closely," he was quoted as saying by the AFP.

He added that there was no threat of tsunami.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is unfortunately placed on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin, making it vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanoes.

In 2004, a massive earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Most of the deaths were in northern Sumatra's Aceh province.