The shallow 7.3-magnitude quake struck about 165 kilometres (100 miles) south of the town of Ternate in North Maluku province on Sunday evening, according to the US Geological Survey. “Five people died after they were hit by debris,” Agus Wibowo, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, said in a statement. North Maluku was also hit by a 6.9-magnitude tremor earlier this month. Strong 6.1-magnitude quake rocks western IndonesiaIndonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide. Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than 2,200 people, with another thousand declared missing.

Source: The Express Tribune July 17, 2019 06:00 UTC