According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the quake's epicenter was at sea, some 125 kilometers away from southwestern part of Buru Island in Maluku Province, at a depth of 20 kilometers.
No reports were received of casualties and fatalities resulting from this earthquake.
Located on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also called the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
On Sept 26, 2019, a 6.5-magnitude quake had rattled certain areas of Maluku Province, compelling no less than 95,256 residents to seek refuge.
The strong earthquake also claimed 38 lives and caused injuries to 27 residents in Ambon City, 90 residents in Maluku Tengah District, and 32 residents in Western Seram District, she remarked.
In 2018, the BMKG recorded that Indonesia had borne the impact of 11,577 earthquakes, including several causing grave casualties, with the figure notably increasing from that in 2017.
The BMKG data indicated that 11,577 earthquakes, with varying magnitudes and depths, hit in 2018, while just 7,172 earthquakes were recorded in 2017.
This indicates that Indonesia bore witness to a significant increase in the number of tectonic earthquakes in 2018.
Several earthquake-related events that hit Indonesia in 2018 were the first of a kind to have occurred, such as the liquefaction in Palu, a tsunami that struck prior to the issuance of a tsunami warning in Palu, and the Sunda Strait Tsunami.
In 2004, Indonesia had also experienced a major catastrophe that claimed several hundred thousands lives in Banda Aceh and several other parts of Aceh Province after the areas were rattled by a deadly tsunami following a powerful earthquake.
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Translator: Desi P, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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