Strong Quake (6.1) Hits Eastern Indonesia

A powerful shallow magnitude of 6.1 has rocked the Papua region: This afternoons quake is the 14th major quake (M 6 or higher) of November and the 128th of 2019

A powerful shallow magnitude of 6.1 has rocked the Papua region, Indonesia. It is the 3rd major quake to strike the region after the magnitude 7.1 hit E of Bitung, Indonesia and a magnitude 6.0 NW of Kota Ternate, Indonesia on the 14th of November.

This afternoons quake is the 14th major quake (M 6 or higher) of November and the 128th of 2019. At the same date last year, 118 major quakes had occurred, in 2017, 99, 2016, 124 and 2015, 131. 





Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia; no tsunami warning

A strong and shallow earthquake hit Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region on Saturday, but the epicenter was far from populated areas and there was no risk of a tsunami, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.1 quake struck at a depth of just 10 kilometers (6 miles). Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.

Rahmat Triyono, who heads the earthquake and tsunami center at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said there was no risk of a tsunami from the quake and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.