A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Indonesia early Saturday morning but has caused no damage or casualties, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Indonesia caused chaos among the people, no injuries or major damage have been reported. The earthquake hit a remote mountain area, hence the authorities haven't issued a tsunami warning, said an Indonesian meteorological survey official.
The massive earthquake occurred in the Papua province Saturday at 4:42 a.m. Ali Imran, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta, confirmed to news agency AP that the natural disaster was centered about 35 miles northeast of the city of Tolikara.
A resident of Tolikara, Yosef Roa, said that the earthquake was "very strong. It scared us ... my wife was screaming, my children were crying," He said that there was no damage although all houses are mainly made of wood following traditional patterns.
Imran added that many residents in the surrounding towns of Papua felt the quake. People ran out of their houses fearing they might collapse. People in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, the copper town of Timika and Wamena, another town in the mountains felt the massive jolt, according to the AP press report.
The Indonesian location is placed on the edges of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates that makes it more vulnerable to volcano eruptions and frequent earthquakes. In 2004, northern Indonesia suffered a powerful 9.1 magnitude earthquake which triggered a massive tsunami killing more than 230,000 people.
