Indonesia: strong earthquake, 2 people died

Early this morning (November 17), a strong earthquake struck off the island of Sulawesi, northern Indonesia, causing at least two people to die and damage hundreds of houses.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) warns that earthquakes can cause devastating tsunamis within a 1,000-kilometer radius of the earthquake center, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii calls on officials. in the region 'immediately act to evacuate people in coastal areas'.

The Indonesian meteorological agency also issued a tsunami warning, but it was lifted shortly afterwards.

According to USGS, an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude, 21 km deep. The earthquake center is located 136 km northwest of Gorontalo city.

After the earthquake, a series of weaker intensity aftershocks occurred in the same area, located on the Celebes Sea, bordering the southern Philippines. The latest occurrence occurred at 5:33 this morning (Vietnam time), with a magnitude of 5.1.

Map of where the earthquake occurred this morning (Photo: Al Jazeera)

According to state-owned news agency Antara, thousands of people at Gorontalo have panicked up to higher areas when the earthquake struck. In some areas, many schools have closed.

A cell phone in Gorontalo said the earthquake was pretty well felt in this city. ' This is a strong and panic earthquake ,' he told Reuters, saying the phone system was interrupted by an earthquake.

In the town of Poso, located in central Sulawesi, people fled their homes and patients at a hospital were evacuated.

Robert Bano, a resident of Gorantalo, said the earthquake shook his house for more than 2 minutes, causing the wall paintings to fall to the ground. He just caught the children crying and with many others running outside.

Metro TV reported about 100 houses in the Buol area, central Sulawesi, severely damaged, including at least 20 houses collapsed completely. At least 1 person died in the city of Gorontalo due to a house collapse.

By this morning, authorities began to assess the damage caused by the earthquake. Rustam Pakaya, director of the Indonesian Ministry of Health's Crisis Processing Center, said a 56-year-old man and another person were killed, 37 were injured, and more than 200 houses were damaged.

He also said some schools and high-rise buildings collapsed.

In December 2004, a powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) caused devastating tsunamis across the Indian Ocean coast, killing more than 230,000 people, including 131,000 in Aceh's province. Indonesia. Last year, a tsunami in Java Island also killed nearly 5,000 people .