267 Aftershocks Occur In The Flores Sea

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JAKARTA - The results of the monitoring of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) show that until Wednesday. On December 15, at 07.00 a.m., 267 aftershocks occurred in the Flores Sea after the 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, December 14 at 10.20 a.m.

The BMKG noted that as of Tuesday, December 14, there had been 120 aftershocks and some of them had a magnitude of five or more, namely 5.6 at 10:41 a.m.; 5.5 at 10.47 a.m.; 5 at 12.46 p.m.; 5.4 at 15.31 p.m.; and 5.2 at 15:57 p.m.

Head of the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Bambang Setiyo Prayitno, advised residents in earthquake-affected areas to avoid cracked or damaged buildings and carry out inspections to ensure that residential buildings do not suffer damage that could endanger the stability of the building before returning to their homes.

"People in the northern coastal areas of North East Flores, Sikka Island, northern Sikka, and Lembata Island are recommended to return to their respective places because the tsunami early warning has ended," he said as quoted in a BMKG press release in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Wednesday, December 15.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 occurred in the Flores Sea on Tuesday, December 14 at 10.20 a.m. The epicenter of the quake was 112 kilometers northwest of Larantuka City in East Nusa Tenggara at a depth of 10 kilometers.

After the earthquake, a tsunami as high as 7 cm was detected in Marapokot, Nagekeo Regency, at 10:36 a.m. and Reo in Manggarai Regency at 10:39 a.m.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) stated that the earthquake in the Flores Sea until Tuesday, December 14 at 22.15 p.m. had damaged 346 houses and forced 770 residents to evacuate. The earthquake also caused damage to three school buildings, two places of worship, a village head office, and a port.

According to the BNPB, the most damage to buildings caused by the earthquake was reported in the Selayar Islands Regency, South Sulawesi.