5.9-magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted West Sulawesi province in central Indonesia on January 14, the country’s meteorology and geophysics agency reported.

The quake struck at 1.35 pm (local time), with the epicentre 4 km from northwest Majene district and a depth of 10 km. It did not potentially trigger a tsunami.

Ten days earlier, another quake with a magnitude of 5.0 hit an area 137 km north-northwest of Kendari. Its epicenter was 10 km deep.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

A devastating 9.1-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Sumatra in 2004, triggering a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia./.

VNA