North Sulawesi quake injures dozens

Hundreds of people fled to the hills and at least 64 were injured when a major quake hit off the North Sulawesi coast early Thursday, officials say.

Hundreds of homes and buildings were also damaged in the 7.4-magnitude undersea quake that struck at 1:34 a.m. local time in the waters between North Sulawesi and the southern Philippines.

The geophysics agency issued a tsunami alert, which was later revoked.

“Initially, there was a possibility of a tsunami,” said Mudjianto of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).

“But based on the early warning system installed around the Sangihe area, there was no movement of water mass indicating a tsunami; so we announced the earthquake had no tsunami potential as it occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers under the sea.”

Up to 90 tremors of magnitude 5 to 6 occurred later in the day.

Rendy Rompas of the provincial disaster management body said people fled and camped on the hills, panicked by aftershocks that struck every 20 minutes following the quake.

“At least 597 homes are severely damaged [in Talaud regency],” Rendy said.

“An estimated 5,000 residents have fled their homes,” said government spokesman Manurat.

Tsunami early warning systems have been set up in a number of areas following the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean in December 2004.

Indonesia was the hardest hit by that devastating quake, with more than 165,000 out of an estimated 200,000 fatalities recorded in Aceh and Nias alone.

Thursday’s quake also caused the partial collapse of the main district hospital, forcing it to move patients to local clinics, AFP reported.

The news agency cited the US Geological Survey as stating that the epicenter of the shallow quake was about 320 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital of Manado and 280 kilometers southeast of General Santos in the Philippines.

There were no reports of any damage or casualties in the Philippines.

The USGS initially put the magnitude of the quake at 7.5, but later revised this down to 7.2. Indonesia measured the quake at 7.4.

Several aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 6.3 struck in the hours following the original quake, the USGS reported.

The Philippines, made up of more than 7,000 islands, also experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

taken from: the jakartapost