Quake causes panic in eastern Indonesia; one killed
Quake causes panic in eastern Indonesia; one killed
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the Moluccas islands in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported, killing one person and causing panic among residents.
The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) in an area 168 km south-southeast of the city of Ternate, the USGS said.
Indonesia’s meteorology agency (BMKG) recorded the quake at 7.2 magnitude and was not in danger of causing a tsunami.
The country’s disaster mitigation agency said on Twitter a woman in South Halmahera died due to the quake, without giving further details.
Within less than four hours since the main quake, the disaster agency recorded at least 30 aftershocks, it added.
The quake hit hours after a magnitude 6.6 struck offshore Western Australia, south of Indonesia.
Iksan Subur, an official with Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency based in the regency of South Halmahera, near the earthquake’s epicentre, said people in the area panicked and ran out of their houses.
People who lived near the ocean left for higher ground despite reassurances from officials that the quake did not have tsunami potential.
In a video uploaded on Twitter a few hours after the quake, authorities asked people to return to their houses.
The BMKG said the main quake was felt in other parts of Indonesia, including cities on Sulawesi island and in Sorong on Papua island.
Last week, the BMKG issued a tsunami warning, which was later lifted, after a magnitude 6.9 quake hit off the northeastern shore of Sulawesi, west of Sunday’s quake.
Indonesia is situated on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is frequently hit by earthquakes and sometimes accompanying tsunamis.
The most devastating in recent Indonesian history was on Dec. 26 in 2004, when a magnitude 9.5 quake triggered a massive tsunami that killed around 226,000 people along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, including more than 126,000 in Indonesia.
Last year, a tsunami hit the city of Palu in Sulawesi, killing thousands.
(Reporting by Tabita Diela, Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Ed Davies and David Evans)
Major 7.3 quake hits remote Malukus in eastern Indonesia

Labuha (Indonesia) (AFP) – A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia Sunday, sending panicked residents running into the streets, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The shallow quake struck about 165 kilometres (100 miles) south-southwest of the town of Ternate in North Maluku province at 6:28 pm (0928 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.
„The earthquake was quite strong, sending residents to flee outside. They are panicking and many are now waiting on the roadside,” said local disaster mitigation official Mansur, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Officials were assessing the situation but there were no immediate reports of casualties, he told AFP.
In the town of Labuha, one of the closest to the epicentre, panicked residents took to motorcycles in a bid to flee to higher ground, according to an AFP photographer in town when the earthquake hit.
Local disaster official Ihsan Subur told Metro TV that no damage or casualties had been reported there so far, but residents took to the streets and many evacuated to higher ground.
„Electricity went of during the earthquake, but now it’s back to normal,” Subur said, adding that at least seven big aftershocks were felt after the initial quake.
The province was also hit by a 6.9-magnitude tremor last week.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific „Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.
Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than 2,200 people, with another thousand declared missing.
On December 26, 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 across the Indian Ocean region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.
Toxic lake in Russia’s Siberia becomes selfie sensation
MOSCOW (AP) — Residents of a city in Siberia don’t need to fly off to tropical locales for picturesque selfies taken by pristine turquoise waters. Thousands of Novosibirsk residents — ranging from scantily clad women to newlyweds — have been busy instagramming near a bright blue lake nicknamed the „Siberian Maldives.”
The lake is blue, however, due to a chemical reaction between toxic waste elements from a local power station. Environmentalists are warning people against coming into contact with the water.
„We can compare it only with photos of the Maldives,” said Sergey Griva, a local who visited the lake, adding he’s never been to the Maldives and couldn’t find it on a map.
Dmitry Shakhov, a Russian environmentalist, warned that the water in the lake can cause allergic reactions or even chemical burns if ingested or touched.
„This water is saturated with heavy metals (and) harmful substances,” he said.
The Siberian Generating Company said Friday it has deployed guards to keep trespassers at bay, but insists the lake presents no environmental danger.
Alaska man charged with illegally killing polar bear
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska man has been charged with the illegal killing of a polar bear in violation of federal law.
Chris Gordon of Kaktovik shot the bear outside his home, leaving the carcass there for five months without salvaging any part of it, according to federal prosecutors.
„Mr. Gordon allegedly left butchered whale meat outside in front of his yard of his residence for a substantial period of time, which attracted polar bear, as well as other animals,” said Ryan Tansey, a Fairbanks-based federal prosecutor.
Gordon, 35, faces a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000 if convicted, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported .
Gordon declined to comment about the case, which is scheduled for an August court appearance in Fairbanks.
Self-defense killings of animals are allowed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. But Gordon did not report the polar bear or tag it as required., Tansey said.
Coastal Alaska Natives also may harvest polar bears for crafts or subsistence, but not in a wasteful way.
The North Slope village has become a destination for tourists and polar bears in a warming Arctic.
Mike Gallagher, a city council member in the village, is among Kaktovik residents who have expressed concerns about the encroaching bears.
„The bear’s underneath my house in the morning when I go to work,” Gallagher said at a public meeting in June. „Would it be your kid? Would it be my kid? It could be anybody down the street. These bears are getting used to people. They’re domesticated.”
Following the fruitless exhumation, Vatican police decided to hold new searches in the area of the cemetery where the remains of Princess Sophie von Hohenlohe, who died in 1836, and Princess Carlotta Federica of Mecklenburg, who died in 1840, should have been.
Vatican authorities said their bones could have been moved over the years due to structural works at the cemetery in the 1960s and 1970s.
Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Saturday the searches had centered on the area adjacent to the princesses’ tombs, inside the Pontifical Teutonic College. There investigators identified two ossuaries – or set of bones – located under the pavement of an area covered by a manhole.
Mr Gisotti added the area was immediately sealed off and the ossuaries will be opened in the presence of forensic experts on July 20 for further investigations.
The two set of bones could belong to the two princesses, but could also bring the search for Orlandi a step forward.
The daughter of a Vatican bank employee, Orlandi disappeared in June 1983 after leaving her family’s Vatican City apartment for a music lesson in Rome. Over the years,there have been many rumours, some wilder than others, about what happened to her – including conspiracies tied to the Mafia, the Vatican bank scandal and the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
The new inspections were a result of the ongoing efforts of the Orlandi family to find the truth about the disappearance of their relative.
The Vatican gave the green light to the exhumations after the family received an anonymous note last summer, hinting that the girl’s remains might be in one of the two graves located in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery.
According to the letter, Orlandi’s body should have been found in the tomb that an angel holding a sheet saying: “Rest in peace” points to from its location on the cemetery wall.