JAKARTA: A powerful undersea earthquake and a series of aftershocks rattled eastern Indonesia yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, damaging buildings in one town and causing panicked residents to flee their homes.
The tremor with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck in the Maluku Sea, 2,355km from the capital, Jakarta.
Hendrik Leopatty, an official with the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency, said the quake lasted around six seconds. It was followed by one aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The local meteorological and geological agency said a tsunami was not expected.
Power supplies were cut for two hours in Labuha, the coastal town closest to the epicentre, Leopatty said.
Witnesses said several houses sustained cracks but there were no report of injuries. Labuha residents fled to the hills fearing a tsunami would hit, but returned a couple of hours later.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people.
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