Hundreds of people near Indonesia’s Moluccas islands rushed to higher ground on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, fearing aftershocks and a possible tsunami after a M6.1 earthquake.
The quake struck at a depth of 19 km (11 miles). There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) urged people in a text message to move away from beaches and seek higher ground, noting that the warning applied especially to Seram Island.
BMKG had initially said a tsunami triggered by the movement of tectonic plates was unlikely – but then said one could still be triggered by underwater landslides, of which there would be no warning.
There was indeed a tsunami, small but still scary:
“If the tsunami is caused by an underwater landslide, it cannot be detected from the current early warning system,” the head of BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati,told a news conference.
She said residents should move to higher ground immediately if they felt aftershocks, and not wait for an official alert.
BMKG said in a separate statement that sea levels had risen at one point by as much as 50 cm (20 inches). It said 13 aftershocks had been recorded so far.
A local civil emergency official said there were no reports of injured people or casualties so far, but some buildings and public facilities had sustained damage.
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