Xinhua News Agency, Jakarta, January 15 (Zheng Shibo) A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in the early morning of the 15th in West Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, causing many buildings to collapse.
There are no reports of casualties.
According to the website of the Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics, the earthquake occurred at 1:28 Jakarta time (2:28 Beijing time). The epicenter was located in Majene County, West Sulawesi Province, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers.
According to reports, towns and villages close to the epicenter felt a strong tremor, as well as Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi Province, and Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, hundreds of kilometers away.
The Indonesian Bureau of Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics did not issue a tsunami warning for the earthquake, but warned that aftershocks might occur near the epicenter and reminded residents to stay vigilant.
According to Indonesian media reports, Mamuju, the capital of West Sulawesi Province, was only 34 kilometers away from the epicenter, and many buildings collapsed.
Among them, the provincial government building partially collapsed, two security personnel were trapped in the rubble, and some hotels and hospitals were damaged to varying degrees.
According to the US Geological Survey Earthquake Information Network, the epicenter of the earthquake was 3.005 degrees south latitude and 118.924 degrees east longitude, with a magnitude of 6.2 and a focal depth of 18.4 kilometers.
Indonesia is located in the Pacific Rim seismic belt, where thousands of large and small earthquakes occur every year.
In September 2018, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred in Donggara County, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The earthquake and the tsunami caused more than 2,000 deaths.