Newsopi
written by Jerry Reth
Sunday March 14, 2010
Indonesia was hit early Sunday by an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. There has been a bit of debate as to how large the quake actually was, because the US Geological survey actually measured the quake at around a 6.4 magnitude on the Richter scale. This quake happened at around 10 in the morning, and the epicenter of the quake was said to be around the Maluku islands.
Immediately after the quake occurred it was announced that there would be no tsunami warning issued, although other institutions had said that there was a small possibility that a tsunami could strike the coastlines closest to the epicenter of the quake. Luckily, it was reported that there have been no injuries or death from the massive 7.0 earthquake. The region was also rocked by a quake the day before that measured a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale.
It was reported that the quakes epicenter was located about 33 miles out to see. The Maluku islands sit just above the Halmahera plate, and have often been a point of discussion among earthquake experts. The area is located in the area known as the “Ring Of Fire” which is a string of locations that are located along fault lines of tectonic plates and are considered to be at a much higher risk for seismic activity.
This earthquake comes on the heels of a 6.2 earthquake that struck Japan earlier in the day, and just weeks after the massive earthquakes that struck both Haiti and Chile and caused so many casualties. Fortunately, Indonesia faired much better than the aforementioned countries and were able to minimize the amount of reported injuries. The only damages that have been reported at this point are a number of cracked foundations in cities and towns that are closest to the epicenter of this 7.0 earthquake that struck Indonesia, just off the Muluku island on Sunday.
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