Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes central Indonesia

PALU, Indonesia: A shallow 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Indonesia on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The tremor hits east southeast of Palu, Central Sulawesi province, at 10:27 am (0227 GMT).

The earthquake was felt quite strongly in Palu and Sigi, but did not pose a tsunami threat, according to Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.

Palu resident Nur Haidar was cooking in her kitchen when she felt the quake.

“Suddenly, it was like there was a jolt, and then the whole house seemed to shake. The entire roof was making noise, like it was about to collapse,” the 42-year-old told AFP.

“I hurried to evacuate with all the kids, and even though we were disoriented and confused for a moment, we managed to get out.”

Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

The arc of intense seismic activity, where tectonic plates collide, stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

In 2018, a magnitude-7.5 quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu, killed more than 2,200 people.