PALU: A shallow 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Indonesia on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The tremor hit east southeast of Palu, Central Sulawesi province, at 10:27 am local time.
The earthquake was felt strongly in Palu and Sigi but did not pose a tsunami threat, according to Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.
Palu resident Nurhaidar, who like many Indonesians has only one name, was cooking in her kitchen when she felt the quake.
“Suddenly, it was like there was a jolt, and then the whole house seemed to shake. The entire roof was making noise, like it was about to collapse,” the 42-year-old told the media.
“I hurried to evacuate with all the kids, and even though we were disoriented and confused for a moment, we managed to get out.”
Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide, stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu killed more than 2,200 people.
Authorities are continuing to assess the situation, but no significant damage has been reported so far.
