Besides North Sulawesi, M 7.7 Earthquake Shakes Philippines: Tsunami Alert in Several Indonesian Regions

JAKARTA - A tectonic earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 shook the southern coast of Mindanao, Philippines, on Monday, June 8 at 06.37 WIB. The earthquake shock triggered by the subduction activity of the plate was also felt in a number of areas in eastern Indonesia and triggered a tsunami early warning from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Director Wijayanto said the results of the analysis showed that the epicenter of the earthquake was at the coordinates of 5.80 degrees North Latitude and 125.14 degrees East Longitude, or about 244 kilometers northwest of Karatung Island, North Sulawesi, with a depth of 47 kilometers.

"Considering the epicenter location and the hypocenter depth, the earthquake that occurred is a shallow earthquake due to the subduction plate activity," said Wijayanto, quoted by Antara, Monday morning.

Based on the results of the source mechanism analysis, the earthquake has the characteristics of a rising or thrust fault, which is common in the plate collision zone and has the potential to trigger a tsunami.

Although the epicenter was in the Philippines, the tremors were felt in several areas in Indonesia. The highest intensity was recorded in Morotai, North Halmahera Regency, with a scale of IV MMI.

Vibrations were also felt in North Gorontalo Regency with intensity III-IV MMI, while a number of other areas such as Ternate, West Halmahera, South Halmahera, East Halmahera, Gorontalo, Parigi Moutong, Manado, Minahasa, Palu, Bitung, East Bolaang Mongondow, and Central Halmahera felt tremors on the scale III MMI.

Until this report was submitted, BMKG stated that it had not received reports of damage due to the earthquake in Indonesian territory.

However, the results of the BMKG modeling show that the earthquake has the potential to cause a tsunami in a number of coastal areas of Indonesia.

Alert status was imposed in a number of areas, including Minahasa Regency, Bolaang Mongondow, Manado City, North Minahasa, South Minahasa, Buol, Sangihe Islands, Gorontalo, Talaud Islands, Minahasa Islands, Toli-Toli, Palu City, Donggala, Ternate City, and Bitung City.

Meanwhile, the Alert status applies to Tidore City, Bulungan, Nunukan, Halmahera, Tarakan City, North Halmahera, East Kutai, South South Minahasa, Bontang City, and Berau Regency.

BMKG urges people in the Alert status area to immediately move away from the coastal area and move to higher locations. Meanwhile, residents in the Warning status area are asked to stay away from the beach and river banks until the situation is declared safe.

In addition, the public is asked to remain calm and not easily be provoked by unverified information.

Until 07.11 WIB, BMKG recorded two aftershocks, with a magnitude of 6.7 and a magnitude of 5.9.

BMKG emphasized that monitoring would continue to be carried out intensively and the public was urged to follow the development of official information conveyed through the agency's communication channels as well as the local government.