By Rochimawati
YOGYAKARTA
A strong earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia early Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning although no casualties or major damage were reported.
The tremor measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale struck at 9:31 local time (04.31 Turkish time) in the waters of Maluku - around a four-hour flight from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
The country's meteorological agency said a 3.54-inch (9 centimeter) tsunami wave reached the shores of the island of Jailolo on the Maluku islands west coast, but no damage was caused. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later rescinded its advisory to coastal areas for a potentially hazardous one-meter wave.
Residents of Sitaro Ternate and Sula District panicked and scrambled out of the houses on hearing the tremor, which they said rumbled for around 7 seconds.
"I was at a mall when I felt a strong earthquake," Manado resident Ishak Kusrant told The Anadolu Agency. "All we could do was run straight out."
Indonesia lies within the Pacific’s "Ring of Fire," where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, causing a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore into the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
www.aa.com.tr/en
