Indonesia earthquake: Tsunami warning after major 7.0 quake on Sumatra island
INDONESIA has been issued with a tsunami warning after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The Indonesian geophysics agency issued the warning after the quake, which the USGS said had hit at a depth of 59 km (37 miles), about 227 km (141 miles) from the city of Teluk Betung in the province of Lampung on Sumatra island.
Residents on the Banten coast, Java Island, were ordered to “immediately evacuate to higher ground” by the Indonesia disaster mitigation agency after the earthquake hit.
They said on Twitter: “Immediately evacuate to a higher place for the community in the Banten coastal area.” There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Indonesia sits on the Ring of Fire where the majority of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Strong tremors were also felt in Jakarta, the capital, prompting terrified people to run out of office buildings.
Panicked residents took to earthquake-tracking website EMSC-CSEM to record their experiences. One said: “Long and shaky.”
Another said: “I was at a hospital and suddenly felt this quake, all around me.” A third said: “Shakes whole house. Went outside for safety. Lasted about 30 seconds.” Radio Elshinta revealed people had started to move to safety from Banten.
One concerned Twitter user posted: “Be careful, don’t panic, keep yourself and the people around us safe.” A resident recalled the terrifying moment the quake struck.
She told AFP: “The chandelier in my apartment was shaking and I just ran from the 19th floor.
“Everybody else ran too. It was a really strong jolt and I was very scared.” The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped area around the Pacific Ocean.
The volatile Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes and potential earthquake sites dotted around the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean.
Nearly 75 percent of the active volcanoes on earth are situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire and nearly 90 percent of the major earthquakes occur in and around this zone.
More than 450 volcanoes are located along the Ring of Fire and it is where about 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.
In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami which was triggered by an earthquake killed 226,000 people in 14 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
