A 5.0-magnitude (M) earthquake caused by activity in the Sorong-South Sula Fault jolted the northwest of Sula Islands district, North Maluku province, on Saturday, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported.
"Considering the location of the epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter, it was a shallow earthquake due to activity in the Sorong-South Sula Fault," head of the BMKG’s Center for Earthquake and Tsunami Daryono informed here on Saturday.
The quake, which occurred at 5:15 p.m. Western Indonesia Standard (WIB) on Saturday, had an upward movement mechanism or thrust fault, based on the source mechanism analysis, he added.
He said that the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the sea at a distance of 13 kilometers (km) southwest of Sula Islands district, North Maluku province, at 2.04 degrees south latitude (LS) and 125.85 degrees east longitude (BT) at a depth of 17 km.
The BMKG official informed that shocks from the quake were also felt in Sanana, Sula Islands district, North Maluku, at an intensity of III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale, or felt similar to a truck passing close by.
"The modeling results show that the quake has no potential for a tsunami," he noted.
The BMKG had not recorded any aftershocks as of 5:30 p.m. WIB, he added.
Furthermore, Daryono asked the public to avoid buildings that were damaged by the disaster.
He appealed to the community to make sure that buildings were earthquake-resistant and there was no damage caused by the quake before returning to the buildings.
People must also remain calm and not be influenced by any information whose veracity has not been confirmed, he added.
About one hour prior, BMKG had reported a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in the sea at a distance of 227 kilometers (km) northeast of Wakatobi district, Southeast Sulawesi province, which was preceded by a 4.8-magnitude foreshock. Two aftershocks were recorded as of 4:30 p.m. WIB.
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Editor : Mahdani
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