Tsunami alert issued after major quake hits Indonesia: warning centre
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
A 7.4-magnitude undersea earthquake struck east of Indonesia on Thursday, the US Geological Survey reported, while a US-based monitoring center issued a warning of “dangerous tsunami waves” within a 1,000-kilometer radius of the quake’s epicenter.
The US Geological Survey said the quake, initially recorded at magnitude 7.8, occurred in the Molucca Sea at 6:48 a.m. local time (10:48 PM GMT).
Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert for potential dangerous tsunami waves “within 1,000 kilometers of the epicenter” along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
A journalist from Agence France-Presse in Manado, North Sulawesi, said the quake woke him and others in the city, prompting them to rush out of their homes.
“I woke up quickly and ran out of my house. People immediately rushed outside. There is a school, and the students ran out,” he said.
He added that the quake lasted “a fairly long time” but caused “no major damage.”
