People in the northern coastal areas of East Flores District, Sikka District, and its surrounding islands, as well as Lembata Island may return to their homes since the tsunami early warning has ended.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - As of Wednesday at 7 a.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB), 267 aftershocks occurred after a 7.4 magnitude (M) earthquake struck Flores Sea on Tuesday morning, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded.

Meanwhile, as of Tuesday night, 120 aftershocks occurred, some of which had a magnitude of five or more.

On Tuesday, a 5.6 M quake occurred at 10:41 a.m. WIB; a 5.5 M quake hit at 10:47 a.m. WIB; a 5 M quake struck at 12:46 p.m. WIB; a 5.4 M quake hit at 3:31 p.m. WIB; and a 5.2 M quake rocked at 3:57 p.m. WIB.


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"People in the northern coastal areas of East Flores District, Sikka District, and its surrounding islands, as well as Lembata Island may return to their homes since the tsunami early warning has ended," Head of BMKG’s Earthquake and Tsunami Center Bambang Setiyo Prayitno noted in a press release here.

However, Prayitno urged people in the affected areas to avoid cracked or damaged buildings.

People are urged to ensure that their buildings do not suffer damage that could endanger them before deciding to return to them.

The 7.4 M earthquake struck on Tuesday at 10:20 a.m. WIB. Its epicenter was located 112 kilometers (km) northwest of Larantuka City in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province at a depth of 10 km.


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Following the disaster, a seven-centimeter (cm) tsunami was detected in Marapokot Village, Nagekeo District, at 10:36 a.m. WIB and Reo Sub-district in Manggarai District, NTT Province, at 10:39 a.m. WIB.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) noted that as of Tuesday at 10:15 p.m. WIB, the disaster had damaged 346 houses and led to the evacuation of 770 residents.


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Three school buildings, two worship places, a village head official residence, and a port also incurred damages.

According to the agency, the damaged buildings were mostly found in Selayar Islands District, South Sulawesi Province.


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Translator: Devi Ramadhan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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