Strong 7.6-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia

INDONESIA: Indonesia issued a tsunami warning for almost three hours after a 7.6 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Tanimbar islands before 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday, but no significant changes in sea level were recorded, local media quoted an official as saying.

The powerful quake, locally measured as a magnitude 7.5, was at a depth of 130 km (80.78 miles), the country’s geophysics agency BMKG said.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) recorded the magnitude as 7.6, after initially reporting it as a magnitude 7.7. The U.S. Geological Survey also pegged it as a 7.6 magnitude.

Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB officials were checking for the extent of the quake’s impact, but early reports showed light to medium damage to buildings, its spokesperson said.

News website Liputan6.com reported houses in Saumlaki town in Yamdena island were badly damaged.