A huge earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 hit off the coast of Indonesia on Monday. The quake struck the sea southwest of the country’s Southeast Maluku in Maluku Province at 12:49pm local according to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
The epicentre was located approximately 170km southwest of Southeast Maluku, at a depth of 108km, the geophysics agency said on its website. There were no reports of loss of life but some property damage was reported, including two school buildings.
The agency noted that the quake had ”no tsunami potential” as many residents would have been woken up by the tremors, in particular those in the town of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands. While the public were advised to remain calm and ‘not to be influenced by unverified rumours’ relating to the quake.