LAST UPDATE | 12 Apr 2019
A TSUNAMI WARNING has been lifted in eastern Indonesia after a strong earthquake hit the coast earlier.
The 6.8 magnitude quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 17 kilometres off the coast of Sulawesi island, the USGS said. This is the island where a 7.5-magnitude quake-tsunami around the city of Palu killed more than 4,300 people last year.
The Indonesian geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning for coastal communities in Morowali districts, where residents were advised to move away from the coast.
The warning was later lifted by the agency, which had estimated the wave at under a half a metre.
Although the quake hit Sulawesi, on the other side of the island from disaster-hit Palu, residents there still felt the tremor.
“I ran straight outside after the earthquake – everything was swaying,” 29-year-old Palu resident Mahfuzah said.
Thousands in Palu were living in makeshift shelters six months after the late September disaster with at least 170,000 residents of the city and surrounding districts displaced.
Entire neighbourhoods are still in ruins, despite life returning to normal in other areas of the tsunami-struck city.
- With reporting from AFP.
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