National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo informed the press here on Monday that the quake had claimed the lives of two people respectively from Gane Luar Village and Papaceda Village.
Over two thousand people sought refuge in 14 shelters, and 58 houses and two bridges were damaged, he revealed.
"We are still collecting data on the number of victims and the extent of damage," he remarked.
The earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale, rocked North Maluku, on Sunday at 6:28 p.m. local time, forcing local residents to flee their homes in panic. The tremor did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.
Related news: North Maluku earthquake claims two lives, displaces 1,104 people
The quake's epicenter was located at 0.59-degree southern latitude and 128.06-degree eastern longitude, some 62 km northeast of Labuha, North Maluku, and at a depth of 10 km below sea level, according to information on the website of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Sunday.
Residents of the Labuha coastal area, the capital of South Halmahera District, immediately headed to higher ground once the tremor occurred, as they feared a tsunami.
Until 7 a.m. local time on Monday, the authority had recorded 65 aftershocks that the BMKG claimed were sparked by horizontal rock deformation. Related news: Magnitude-7.2 earthquake shakes North Maluku
Related news: Magnitude-7.0 earthquake jolts North Maluku
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Translator: Dewanto Samodro, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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