Earthquake of 7.5-magnitude destroys more than 100 houses in Indonesia

More than 100 houses and other buildings were destroyed after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku, an official and weather agency said.

Most of the damages occurred in the district of Kepulauan Tanimbar, the hardest-hit area, where 92 houses, an office building and a school building were damaged by the tremors, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the national disaster management agency.

The earthquake also destroyed 32 houses and two education facilities in the district of Maluku Barat Daya, the spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

However, the damages did not force the residents in the districts to flee home, as only one person suffered from injury, Muhari said.

 

A coordinating meeting had been conducted to prepare emergency relief efforts, including preparation for the distribution of aid, such as rice, blankets, tents, medicines and others, he added.

The quake occurred at 12:47 a.m. local time with its epicentre located 148 km northwest of Kepulauan Tanimbar district and a depth of 131 km under the seabed, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Three aftershocks from weak to moderate levels followed the main shock, according to the weather agency. The agency issued a tsunami alert for the province and the nearby province of Southeast Sulawesi. The tsunami did not occur.

--IANS

int/khz/