5.0 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Maluku Province; Caused by Rock Deformation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 rocked the Indonesian Banda Sea region, Maluku Province on Tuesday morning, January 2. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that it was triggered by rock deformation activity in the Banda plate slab.

"Looking at the location of the epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter, it was a type of medium-sized earthquake caused by rock deformation activity in the Banda plate slab," the BMKG's head of the Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Daryono, said in Jakarta, Tuesday, January 2.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located at a depth of 152 km under the sea, 179 km offshore northwest of Tanimbar, precisely at 7.03 South Latitude (LS) and 129.99 East Longitude (BT),

"The modeling results show that this earthquake does not have the potential for a tsunami," he said, adding that the source mechanism analysis results showed that the earthquake had an oblique thrust mechanism.

The earthquake caused tremors in the Amahai area, Central Maluku, Dawelor Dawera and Babar Islands, Southwest Maluku, with an intensity scale of II-III MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity). "So far there have been no reports of the impact of damage caused by the earthquake," he said.

As of 06:25 local time, BMKG's monitoring results have not shown any aftershocks activity.

TEMPO.CO

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