Jakarta:
A powerful earthquake hit eastern Indonesia on Wednesday, sending residents fleeing from their buildings in panic. There were power blackouts in some areas but no initial reports of serious damage or casualties.
The quake had a magnitude of 7.0 and was centered 18 miles (29 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor off the northern coast of Papua province, the US Geological Survey said on its website. It was followed by a strong aftershock.
Hundreds of people ran out of their homes, said Yan Pieter Yarangga, a resident from the town of Biak. Fearing a tsunami, people fled beaches and some raced for higher ground.
"I ran too, I was afraid there would be a second quake," said Yarangga, adding there did not appear to be any damage.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency registered the temblor at 7.1, and initially warned it had the potential to trigger a tsunami. That didn't occur, however.
Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that make the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity. A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost provice of Aceh.
The quake that hit Wednesday was located more than 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) from the country's capital, Jakarta.
The quake had a magnitude of 7.0 and was centered 18 miles (29 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor off the northern coast of Papua province, the US Geological Survey said on its website. It was followed by a strong aftershock.
Hundreds of people ran out of their homes, said Yan Pieter Yarangga, a resident from the town of Biak. Fearing a tsunami, people fled beaches and some raced for higher ground.
"I ran too, I was afraid there would be a second quake," said Yarangga, adding there did not appear to be any damage.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency registered the temblor at 7.1, and initially warned it had the potential to trigger a tsunami. That didn't occur, however.
Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that make the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity. A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost provice of Aceh.
The quake that hit Wednesday was located more than 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) from the country's capital, Jakarta.
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