7.3 Mag. Earthquake Rattles Indonesia Leaving 1 Dead, 4 Injured
The U.S. Geological Survey put the earthquake's strength at 7.3 and the Indonesian seismological institute issued a tsunami alert via local television and radio.
The temblor struck six miles beneath the Molucca Sea and was centered 80 miles northwest of the Maluku capital of Ternate and 1,400 miles northeast of Jakarta, the USGS said.
Some buildings suffered cracks and damage. Fears of a tsunami sent hundreds of people running inland to higher ground or racing off in cars and on motorcycles, causing massive traffic jams, witnesses said.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific ''Ring of Fire,'' an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 lives -- 131,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone. A tsunami off Java island last year killed nearly 5,000.
AP
http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/223088,012207quake.article