Tsunami early warning issued after 7.7M quake in Sulawesi Sea

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an updated tsunami early warning following a magnitude 7.7 tectonic earthquake that struck the Sulawesi Sea on Monday at 6:37 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani said the earthquake's epicenter was located at a depth of 47 kilometers northwest of Karatung Island, North Sulawesi, in the Mindanao sector of the Philippines, and had the potential to trigger a tsunami in several coastal areas of Indonesia.

“BMKG has issued an updated tsunami early warning for the coastal areas of North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, and East Kalimantan,” he said.

He identified areas under tsunami alert status as Kota Manado, North Minahasa, South Minahasa, Buol, Sangihe Islands, Gorontalo, Sitaro Islands, Minahasa Islands, Toli-Toli, Kota Palu, Donggala, Kota Ternate, and Kota Bitung.

Meanwhile, areas under tsunami warning status include Kota Tidore, Bulungan, Nunukan, Halmahera, Kota Tarakan, North Halmahera, East Kutai, Kota Bontang, and Berau.

In response to the warning, BMKG urged residents in affected areas to immediately carry out self-evacuation measures according to the level of threat in their respective locations.

“For areas under tsunami warning status, residents are urged to immediately evacuate coastal zones and move to safer, higher ground. They are also advised to avoid coastal areas and suspend activities along beaches and riverbanks,” Fathani emphasized.

As of 7:11 a.m. WIB, monitoring by BMKG’s Indonesia Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS) had recorded two significant aftershocks with magnitudes of 6.7 and 5.9.

BMKG stated that the earthquake was caused by subduction zone activity.

“Considering the location of the epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter, this was a shallow earthquake triggered by subduction zone activity,” BMKG Director for Earthquakes and Tsunamis Wijayanto said.

An analysis of the focal mechanism indicates that the earthquake was caused by a thrust fault.

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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Editor: Primayanti

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