Dozens Of Houses In Morotai Were Damaged By An Earthquake With A Magnitude Of 5.6

Dozens of houses on Morotai Island were damaged by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 that occurred on Thursday (19/9/2024) afternoon at around 16: 45 WIT, ANTARA/Abdul Fatah)

A total of 25 houses in Morotai Island Regency, North Maluku, were reported to have been damaged by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6.

"While the team has been dispatched to the location to collect data and monitor," said Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Morotai Island Regency, Muslim Djumati, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, September 19.

Temporary data as many as 25 housing units spread across eight villages in East Morotai District and Morotai Jaya District were affected by the disaster.

Currently, the situation in the district is still monitored as safe, even so, residents are asked to remain alert to aftershocks.

"We ask residents not to panic, remain calm and continue to follow official information from the local Regency Government and BMKG," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ternate Class III Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the earthquake was due to subduction activity of Pacific sea plates.

The results of the analysis of the source mechanism show that the earthquake has a thrust fault mechanism.

"By looking at the location of the earthquake, it is located at coordinates 2.25 degrees North Latitude; 128.70 degrees East Longitude, or precisely located in the sea at a distance of 50 kilometers northeast of Daruba, at a depth of 32 kilometers," said Ternate Class III BMKG officer Bayu Merdeka.

The earthquake had an impact and was felt in Morotai Island Regency and North Halmahera Regency with an intensity scale of III-IV MMI, but the earthquake did not have the potential for a tsunami.