5.9-magnitude quake hits off eastern Indonesia, no tsunami alert issued

JAKARTA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted off Indonesia’s eastern Maluku province on Tuesday morning without generating large waves, the country’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said.
The agency previously issued the magnitude at 6.2 before downgrading it.
The tremors occurred at 09:15 a.m. Jakarta time (0215 GMT) with its epicenter being located at 188 km northwest of Kepulauan Tanimbar (Tanimbar Islands) regency at a depth of 88 km beneath the seabed, the agency reported.
The agency did not issue a tsunami warning as the tremors would not potentially trigger giant waves.
Indonesia, an archipelagic nation, lies in a vulnerable quake-hit zone, called the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” making the country prone to earthquakes. ■