A violent 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s eastern coast on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, causing people in adjacent cities to rush into the streets and seek higher ground.
On Indonesia’s Flores Island, the quake struck 112 kilometers (69 miles) north of Maumere, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
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15 aftershocks were reported after the initial quake, the strongest being 5.6 magnitude Was anyone injured during the earthquake?
In the province of East Nusa Tenggara, one person was reported injured, but there were no reports of deaths.
The USGS said that up to 21million people were affected by Tuesday's earthquake, with 347,000 individuals experiencing "moderate" tremors and roughly 2,000 people experiencing "severe" tremors.
Residents in the East Flores district felt the earthquake severely, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokeswoman Abdul Muhari.
People were seen fleeing from buildings as a result of the quake.
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Were there tsunami warnings issued?
"Hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the earthquake epicenter," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in the United States, said after the initial quake.
The tsunami warning was since called off. However, people along the beaches on the northern side of Flores should be wary of future quakes and a potential tsunami, said Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency to ABC News.
“The earlier earthquake no longer has a tsunami potential. But it is very possible there'll be aftershocks, hopefully not stronger than before,” Karnawati said.
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Maumere is the capital city of Sikka and the second-largest town on Flores with a population of about 90,000 people Credit: Getty Images - Getty Is there a history of earthquakes in Indonesia?
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire," a stretch of land that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
It runs from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific to California and South America on the other, making it one of the world's most seismically active zones.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Flores Island in December 1992, killing almost 2,000 people.
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