By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – A powerful earthquake struck the Celebes Sea off northern Indonesia on Tuesday, but no tsunami warning was issued.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the magnitude 7.3 temblor hit 322 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of the Sangihe Islands in North Sulawesi province at a depth of 618 km at 1.13 p.m. (0613GMT).
He said in a statement that it did not cause damage due to its undersea depth.
“Moreover, the quake’s location is far from populous islands,” Nugroho added. “Its shocks were felt weakly in the Philippines and Sangihe.”
On Dec. 7, a magnitude 6.5 temblor rocked the north of Sumatra island, leaving 104 people dead and tens of thousands displaced in Aceh province.
Indonesia lies within the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, causing a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
