Magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Indonesia’s Molucca Sea kills one, triggers small tsunami

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake toppled buildings in parts of northern Indonesia, sent people fleeing their homes, killed at least one person and triggered a small tsunami on Thursday.

Waves up to 30 inches above normal tides were recorded at several monitoring stations within half an hour of the earthquake, which was centered in the Molucca Sea. Indonesia’s meteorological agency lifted the tsunami warning hours after the earthquake, while the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said there was no threat to destroy the country, which is north of the epicenter.

Strong tremors lasting 10 to 20 seconds were felt in Bitung in North Sulawesi province and Ternate city in neighboring North Maluku province, according to Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency.

Initial assessments showed minor damage to some parts of Ternate, including a church and two houses. In Bitung, damage assessment is still ongoing, the agency said.

The Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia reported that a 70-year-old woman died when a building collapsed in the city of Manado in North Sulawesi and another citizen was injured. At least three injured people were hospitalized in Ternate.

Videos released by the rescue center showed damaged buildings and flattened houses, while television stations broadcast scenes of people running outside and gathering in the streets to avoid the danger of collapsing buildings.

About 50 tremors were felt in nearby areas.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said small waves were also possible in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea, but there was no threat to Hawaii, Guam and other outlying islands.

The tremors were felt strongly in Bitung, a coastal town in North Sulawesi province, where residents ran out of their homes in fear.

“We just woke up and suddenly the earthquake… we all ran out of the house,” said resident Marten Mandagi. “The shaking was very strong,”

Mandagi said he had not yet seen the damage in his area. “We are still checking whether there is any damage or not. But we are safe here, no one was injured or destroyed,” he said.

Indonesia, an archipelago of over 280 million people, sits on major seismic faults and which is often hit by earthquakes and volcanism due to its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In 2022The 5.6 magnitude earthquake killed at least 602 people in the city of Cianjur in West Java, and has killed more people in Indonesia since then. 2018 earthquake and the tsunami in Sulawesi killed more than 4,300 people.

In 2004, the most powerful Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in the Aceh province of Indonesia.