Strong Earthquake Hits Indonesia’s Molucca Sea Region, Triggers Tsunami Alerts

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

TOKYO/MANADO, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Indonesia’s Northern Molucca Sea region early Thursday, prompting tsunami warnings, panic among residents, and initial reports of casualties and damage, officials said.

The quake, confirmed by the United States Geological Survey, struck at a depth of 35 kilometers (22 miles), about 127 kilometers (79 miles) west-northwest of the Indonesian city of Ternate, between the islands of Sulawesi and Halmahera.

At least one person was confirmed killed in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, on the northern tip of Sulawesi island, after a building collapsed, authorities said.

“The quake was felt strongly around Manado… one person died and another suffered a leg injury,” search and rescue official George Leo Mercy Randang told reporters, adding that the victim was buried under rubble. Christians living in the mainly Muslim area expressed concern about their situation to Worthy News.

“I am very worried, everybody was running,” said 39-year-old Meike Woworuntu, a Christian working at the main outdoor market in the city. “I was selling vegetables till late at night. When I tried to return home, I felt the earth quake. Everybody was running,” she told Worthy News. “I am very worried because I can’t reach my son who is still at home,” she added.

Video footage obtained by Worthy News showed people running and seeking cover as the quake struck. “Alert, alert,” a man could be heard shouting. Other images showed shocked residents near Manado’s sports complex, which was also damaged.

PANIC AND EVACUATIONS

Residents across the region described scenes of fear as buildings shook and people fled into the streets.

Yayuk Oktiani, who was shopping at a market in Bitung — a coastal city on the northeastern edge of Sulawesi island — said “everything started shaking” before power outages hit several stores.

“Outside, people were holding hands, scared and panicking, some even hugging each other,” she recalled.

She rushed to her child’s school near the coast, where teachers quickly sent students home. “The situation there was chaotic,” she said.

An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, said the tremor woke residents, sending many running outside as the shaking lasted “quite long,” though no major damage was immediately seen.

TSUNAMI WARNINGS ISSUED

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned that tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the epicenter, including coastal areas of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

Waves between 0.3 and 1 meter (12 to 39 inches, about 1 to 3.3 feet) above normal tide levels were possible along parts of Indonesia’s coastline, while smaller fluctuations of less than 30 centimeters (12 inches) were forecast for regions including Japan, Guam, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea.

Japan’s Japan Meteorological Agency said slight sea level changes could occur along its Pacific coast, including areas such as Shizuoka, Fukushima, Miyagi, and parts of Hokkaido, but stressed that no tsunami damage was expected.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology also said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, its surrounding islands, or territories.

REGION ON HIGH ALERT

The quake was initially measured at magnitude 7.8 before being revised to 7.4, according to the USGS.

Indonesia, a vast Southeast Asian archipelago spanning more than 17,000 islands and home to over 280 million people, lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a highly active zone of earthquakes and volcanoes that encircles the Pacific Ocean.

The country has suffered some of the world’s deadliest natural disasters in recent decades.

In 2022, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake killed at least 602 people in Cianjur, a city in West Java on Indonesia’s main island of Java. Earlier, in 2018, a powerful quake and tsunami in central Sulawesi — the same island affected by Thursday’s quake — left more than 4,300 people dead.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, triggered off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, killed more than 230,000 people across a dozen countries.

Authorities said they were continuing to assess damage and monitor the risk of aftershocks and potential sea-level changes.

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