7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia
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A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Maluku province Saturday evening that triggered a brief tsunami warning from the nation's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
The quake occurred at 21:40 Jakarta time (1440 GMT) with its epicenter at 209 km northwest of Saumlaki and at a depth of 165 km, the BMG said.
The quake was felt up to Papua province in easternmost of Indonesia, said Hendra Rahman, official from the BMG.
"The quake caused panics in some areas," he said. The intensity of the quake was felt at 3 to 4 MMI (modified Mercally Intensity) at Tual and Aru islands of Maluku, and at 4 MMI at Sorong and Fakfak of Papua, he said.
An Indonesian TV station, Metro TV, reported that the strong tremor was felt in Maluku province's capital of Ambon and lasted for almost two minutes. The strong quake made people Ambon rushing out of their houses.
But there were no immediate report of building collapse or injuries.
The BMG issued a tsunami warning after the quake but soon lifted it as there were no major waves stirred by the quake.
"We have lifted the tsunami warning," Rahman told Xinhua over phone.
The quake came as Indonesia has just conducted emergency relief works at West Sumatra province following a 7.9 magnitude quake that killed more than 1,000 people last month.
Earlier Saturday, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake jolted Sukabumi, West Java province.
Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire", where two continental plates meet that cause frequent seismic and volcanic movements.
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