KATHMANDU, Jan 5: A series of powerful earthquakes killed at least four people and injured dozens in remote eastern Indonesia Sunday and briefly triggered fears of another tsunami in a country still recovering from 2004´s deadly waves, AP reported Monday.
One of the quakes – a 7.3-magnitude tremor – was felt as far away as Australia and sent small tsunamis into Japan´s southeastern coast. [break]
Residents near the epicenter in Papua province rushed from their homes in search of higher ground shortly after the first 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time (0128 NST, 1943 GMT), afraid that huge waves might wash over the island.
Burials begin in quake- and tsunami-hit Indonesian region
The epicenter was about 85 miles (135 kilometers) from Papua´s main city of Manokwari and occurred at a depth of 22 miles (35 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Dozens of aftershocks followed soon after.
At least four people died, dozens were injured and some 135 homes and other buildings were badly damaged or toppled in the province. Power lines fell, cutting off electricity, and the runway of Manokwari´s Rendani airport was cracked, prompting the cancellation of commercial flights.
The government initially issued a tsunami warning but lifted it within an hour after it was confirmed that the epicenter was on land, not water.
A huge quake off western Indonesia caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 230,000 people, more than half of them on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. Four years on, the multibillion dollar rebuilding process is almost complete.
Residents in Papua´s Manokwari – a jumble of low-lying brick and cement structures home to 167,000 people – remained jittery late Sunday, with thousands prepared to sleep outside for fear of aftershocks.
