Indonesia lifted a brief tsunami warning after a strong earthquake hit off the eastern island of Sumbawa, officials said.
The warning was lifted less than an hour after it was issued and no tsunami was recorded on the island, the meteorology office in Jakarta said.
"We have immediately made checks with the sensors nearest to the area hit by the quake," an official said. "After about one hour passed without any signs of changing sea levels, we declared the tsunami warning cancelled," he said.
"There is nothing indicating that a tsunami has taken place," the official said.
The office put the quake's magnitude at 6.5, while the US Geological Survey measured it at 5.5. It struck about 160km southeast of Raba, at a depth of 19km under the sea floor.
The quake sparked panic in towns across Sumbawa island, with people flooding into the streets, but residents and police said there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
"People were screaming and running out of their homes," said Indra, a bank employee in the harbor town of Sape.
"It was felt strongly, and caused people to panic," said Iwan, a journalist for a local newspaper, who added that he had not seen any damage in the island's main town of Raba.
A police officer on duty in the town of Dompu, about 40km west of Raba, said no damage or casualties had been reported there.
A telephone operator in Bali said the jolt also was felt on the Indonesian resort island. The operator, whose switchboard covers the Raba area, said telephone services between Bali and Raba appeared to be cut off.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
It was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province alone.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese