Magnitude 5.6 quake hits off Indonesia’s Maluku Islands
TUBAN
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck off Indonesia’s Maluku Islands on Jan. 14. The United State Geological Survey reported the temblor as hitting at a shallow depth of 22.8 kilometers (14 miles) around 121 km northwest of Ternate, the largest town in North Maluku province.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert, and there were no immediate reports of damage.
On Dec. 7, a magnitude 6.5 temblor rocked the north of Sumatra island, leaving 104 people dead and tens of thousands displaced in Aceh province.
Indonesia lies within the Pacific’s "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, causing a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
