Illustration: An M6.8 earthquake shook Ambon. (Image via LAist)

M6.8 earthquake jolts Maluku, 3 died

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
Population
Sep 26, 2019
1970
On Thursday (26/9) at 6.46 am local time, an M6.8 earthquake with 10 Km depth jolted eastern region of Indonesia, northeast of Ambon, Maluku. Afraid of the tsunami and awakened by the quake, the locals rushed onto the hills.

Through its official Twitter account, Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) stated that the depth did not show any possibility for a tsunami to happen. However, the shock was so great that it devastated several buildings in Ambon, the capital of Maluku Province.

The earthquake happened at the maximum intensity of VII – VI MMI hinting that the quake might be devastating for shabby buildings. Three people died beneath the ruin of a building.

Because the locals were rushing onto higher ground to evacuate, the traffic was jammed. One bridge was severely damaged. All of the activities were also halted because they were too afraid to go back into the buildings.

Currently, the damage report has not been known yet. The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) is still monitoring the situation.

In 2018, an M7.5 earthquake shook an island located west of Maluku that resulted in a tsunami, killing 4,000 people in its wake. However, the world will never forget the 2004 quake that resulted in a horrendous tsunami costing 226,000 lives in 14 countries with more than 120,000 lives came from Indonesia.

Source: https://bit.ly/2nkO416

Disaster , Natural , Earthquake , ASEAN , Indonesia , Maluku , Ambon