Earthquake of 6.0 Magnitude Hits Southwestern Indonesia, No Risk Of Tsunami

New Delhi, India: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Indonesia on Wednesday. The strong earthquake caused tremors all over the region. There was a huge reduction in the potential of severe damage as the quake struck at a considerable depth. The United States Geological Survey said that there wasn't any Tsunami risk issued.

Halmahera island in North Maluku Province was the spot where the quake first struck off at  0948 GMT at a depth of about 35 kilometres (22 miles), the United States Geological Survey said. Much to the good fortune of the people, no reports of damage or injuries after the earthquake were reported. Speaking on the matter, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that the quake did not lead to any 'tsunami threat' from the quake in the Molucca Sea.

The Real Cause Of Earthquake

On the contrary to whatever the United States Geological Survey and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said, Indonesia's geophysics agency (BMKG) requested the nearby residents to expect possible aftershocks. As far as the geographical reasons re concerned, Indonesia mostly experiences frequent earthquakes as it is precariously positioned in the Pacific "Ring of Fire". The Ring of fire is always vulnerable to  intense seismic activity  due to the collision of the tectonic plates. These plates stretch rom Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

The Archipelago Condition

Indonesia is not only uniquely positioned in the Pacific "Ring of Fire", it also is a vast archipelago nation. An archipelago is an area that contains a chain or group of islands scattered in lakes, rivers, or the ocean and this makes the island country more vulnerable to earthquakes. In January 2021, Sulawesi island was shook by an earthquake that had a magnitude of 6.2. The earthquake caused the death of more than 100 people and left thousand more homeless.

In 2018, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake followed by a tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi killed more than 2,200 people. Back in  2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck Aceh province, caused a tsunami and killed more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.