A 7.3 magnitude earthquake kicked underseas in East Musa Tenggara in the Flores Sea of Indonesia this Tuesday.
The massive scale was deducted by US Geological survey and they stated,
“Quake struck around 100 kilometers north of the town of Maumere at a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11 miles) in the Flores Sea at 0320 GMT.”
Indonesia experiences frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions due to its position.
Indonesia is located at the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Calmative Tsunami on the brink
The authorities have issued an alert over the tsunami possibility. People have started fleeing the area.
The US Geological survey procured the chances of casualties from the quake are low, but also pinpointed the fact by stating
” Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as tsunamis and landslides that might have contributed to losses”.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also shared its views on the incident and cautiously commented
“hazardous waves are possible for coasts located within 1,000 km (600 miles) of the quake epicenter”.
The European – Mediterranean Seismological Centre, ruled out the magnitude of the tremor to be 7.7 and concluded the depth to be 5 km.
Previous hazardous casualties
Indonesia has suffered some of the worst tremors in history. Due to its position on the Pacific ” Ring of Fire”. Thus, the casualties and raging tsunamis are a constant threat.
The 2004 tsunami, triggered by a 9.1 magnitude quake resulted in a horrid death toll of 220,000 people. It is also known as the Boxing Day disaster.
The powerful tremor of 2018 hit the island of Lombok, leaving 550 people on the island and neighboring island Subawa dead.
Again the same year, a subsequent tsunami shook Palu on Slawesi island resulting in 4,300 deaths or missing reports.