The Jakarta Post, 1/28/2006 1:12:40 PM
Major quake triggers panic in Ambon
AMBON, Maluku (Agencies): A major earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale
rocked eastern Indonesia early Saturday, cracking walls and triggering panic, the U.S.
Geological Survey and localresidents said.
The quake struck at 1:58 a.m. (16:58 GMT Friday) in the Banda Sea, around 195
kilometers south of Maluku provincial capital of Ambon at a depth of 340 kilometers,
the U.S. Geological Survey said in on its website.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.
Several buildings in Ambon, including the main shopping center, the Ambon Plaza,
sustained cracks to the walls, but there was no major damage.
"It was so strong that people who were soundly sleeping were awakened," Ambon
resident Sulaiman Tuasikal told AFP.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which monitors seismic events and
their tidal wave-generating potential, put out a bulletin following the quake, but said no
tsunami was anticipated.
"A destructive tsunami is not expected from the earthquake," Stuart Weinstein, the
center's assistant director, told AFP.
"The quake was very deep. It's 340 kilometers or roughly 220 miles deep. It's so far
under the surface that it's not going to cause enough displacement of the sea floor
that it'll generate a tsunami," he added.
The tremor was also felt in Tual and Saumlaki, also in the Maluku island chain, as
well as in Sorong in Papua province, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara province and the
South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar.
A local policeman in Ambon, who declined to be identified, said the quake was "felt
very strongly in Ambon and caused many people to flee their homes".
"I ran out of the office along with my colleagues," he told AFP, adding that he was not
sure whether there were any casualties or damage.
The sprawling Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the
meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. (***)
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