The Jakarta Post, 1/21/2007 7:29:33 PM
Strong quake rattles Manado, damages church
JAKARTA (JP): A strong earthquake rocked North Sulawesi provincial capital of
Manado Sunday evening, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) says in its
Web site.
The 6.5-magnitude quake was centered some 51 kilometer-deep under the sea or
some 117 kilometers northwest of Ternate Island in North Maluku province, according
to the agency.
MetroTV television reported that the tremor sparked panic among residents of
Manado, but there was no immediate report of tsunami and serious damage.
Meanwhile, according to AP news agency, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded that
the earthquake measured 7.2 Richter scale and damaged a church and injuring three
people.
The quake was large enough to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
said in its statement.
MetroTV reported that a building of a shopping mall in the city suffered from the rifts
on its wall after rocked by the quake lasting for several seconds.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its
location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines
encircling the Pacific Basin.
A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, killed more than
131,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone and left half a million homeless.
(BBN)
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