Strong 6.5-Magnitude Quake Jolts Indonesia’s Papua
A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua on Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremor, which occurred at around 2:48 p.m. local time, was centered approximately 200 kilometers from Jayapura at a depth of 35 kilometers.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded a slightly lower magnitude of 6.4 and a shallower depth of 16 kilometers. Officials confirmed there were no tsunami warnings and no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Daryono, the agency’s director of earthquake and tsunami operations, said in a statement that no aftershocks had been detected following the initial quake.
Indonesia sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active belt where multiple tectonic plates meet, making the country prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Papua lies on the western half of the island shared with Papua New Guinea and is among the regions most exposed to tectonic activity in the Pacific basin.
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