6.8 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia

SANAA, Sept. 26 (YPA) – An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted Seram island in Indonesia’s eastern province of Maluku, the Indonesian Geoscience Agency said on Thursday.

The agency said there were no tsunami risks from the tremor but a spokesman for the agency said “some buildings were likely to be damaged”.

Indonesia, which is floating above the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, has often seen fatal earthquakes and tsunamis.

In September 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and strong tsunami devastated Palu on the island of Sulawesi, west of Maluku, killing more than 4,000 people.

In 2004, an earthquake off Sumatra island caused a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 14 countries, more than 120,000 of them in Indonesia.