7.3-magnitude powerful earthquake hits eastern Indonesia

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia today. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties. The US Geological Survey said, the quake hit at a depth of 208 kilometres south of Ambon island in the Banda Sea.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, there was no threat of a Tsunami as the quake was too deep. The temblor came hours after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Papua, also in the eastern part of the Southeast Asian archipelago. That quake hit about 240 kilometres



west of the town of Abepura in Papua province, at a relatively shallow depth of 21 kilometres. 

In that quake too, there were no immediate reports of casualties. Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent Tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than 2,200 people with a thousand more declared missing.