(Bloomberg) — A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia early Thursday, killing at least one person found under the rubble of a sports facility in Manado and triggering a tsunami threat, the National Search and Rescue Agency, known as Basarnas, said.
One person was slightly injured and buildings in North Sulawesi and North Maluku were damaged, Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said during a briefing. Damage was also reported in Ternate, including to homes and places of worship, he added.
The quake triggered tsunami waves of less than one meter in length in parts of North Sulawesi, as well as 48 aftershocks, according to a statement from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, known as BMKG. Residents in parts of Bitung reported seawater receding several meters from the coast.
The tsunami warning was canceled at 9:56 a.m. Jakarta time, the agency said. However, authorities urged residents to stay away from coastal areas and follow official guidelines.
The earthquake, which struck at 6:48 a.m. local time, was centered about 129 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Bitung at a depth of 62 kilometers, Basarnas said. Strong tremors lasting up to 20 seconds caused panic among residents.
Indonesia’s 17,000 islands are prone to earthquakes because the country straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire. The arc of fault lines and volcanoes cause frequent seismic tremors, with the BMKG typically recording thousands of earthquakes per year, mostly too small to detect.
More than 400 people were killed in December 2018 when Mount Anak Krakatau erupted and partially collapsed, causing a tsunami along the Sunda Strait. In the same year, an earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi killed more than 4,000 people. The 2004 Aceh tsunami remains the deadliest on record, killing more than 115,000 people.
–With help from Riek Rahadian, Eko Listiyorini and Aradhana Aravindan.
(Updates with new information throughout the story.)
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