Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A strong 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit a remote part of eastern Indonesia Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

The undersea quake struck at a depth of some 61 kilometers (38 miles), about 280 kilometers southwest of the city of Tual in the archipelago’s Maluku province.

The Southeast Asian country is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

© Agence France-Presse