CRISISBOOM

Ring of Fire pictured left with earthquakes from last 7 days (right). Quake data by earthquakes.tafoni.net

Indonesia was hit by a large earthquake and a series of strong tremors Sunday afternoon. A 6.5 magnitude quake, the latest in string of strong quakes to hit the Pacific Ring if Fire region during the last week, struck the country’s easternmost Province of Papua 1.16 p.m. GMT.

The quake was centred 53 kilometres (33 miles) northeast of Waren, a town on the northern coast of Papua island, according to Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.  It was also felt in nearby Biak island, and Enarotali town on the main island The U.S. Geological Survey put the initial quake’s magnitude at 6.4.

The region was hit by at least moderate tremors in the following hours. The tremors measured 5.4 (x2), 5, 4.5 and 4.3 on the Richter Scale. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.

Papua comprises most of the Read more…