Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, no tsunami threat reported

Magnitude 6.2 quake strikes off Indonesia's Sulawesi island, no tsunami threat reported

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Wednesday, according to the country’s geophysics agency (BMKG), which confirmed there was no tsunami threat.

The quake was recorded off the island’s northern coast, and there were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage.

This is the second significant earthquake to hit Indonesia in recent days. Last week, a magnitude 6.6 quake struck the Banda Sea near the Maluku Islands at a depth of about 137 kilometers. At the time, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency also confirmed that there was no tsunami potential, Reuters reported.

The Banda Sea region lies where several tectonic plates, including the Australian and Sunda plates, collide, fracturing the Earth’s crust into smaller plates and microplates such as the Banda Sea, Timor, Molucca Sea, and Bird’s Head plates. This makes it one of the most geologically complex areas on Earth.

Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active belt known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused by the shifting of major tectonic plates.

Earlier this week, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killing at least 20 people, injuring hundreds, and damaging the city’s historic Blue Mosque, officials said.