Powerful 7.4-magnitude Quake Hits Near Indonesia’s Molucca Islands

7.4-magnitude earthquake struck early on Thursday near Ternate, an island in Indonesia’s Molucca archipelago, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake struck at 5:48 am (2248 GMT Wednesday) between northern Sulawesi and the North Molucca Islands, around 127 kilometres west of Ternate, at a depth of about 35 kilometres.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) initially reported the earthquake’s magnitude as 7.6.

Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning for islands around the Molucca Sea, which was later lifted.

Indonesia sits on a tectonic zone with intense seismic and volcanic activity known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a devastating tsunami that struck Indian Ocean countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India, and even reached Africa.

More than 230,000 people died.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)