6.1-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia’s North Sumatra; No Tsunami Threat

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Nias Island in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province on Tuesday, with no casualties or property damage reported so far. Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said the earthquake did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

Earthquake strikes off Nias Island

The earthquake occurred at 1:02 p.m. local time (0602 GMT), with its epicentre located around 147 km southeast of South Nias Regency, BMKG said.

The quake struck at a depth of 29 km. Authorities have not reported any casualties or damage following the tremor.

The latest earthquake comes against the backdrop of a separate, much stronger earthquake that struck Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province earlier this month.

Death toll from earlier NTT earthquake rises to 68

A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck East Nusa Tenggara on August 15, killing 68 people, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

The fatalities include 26 people in Manggarai Regency, 24 in East Manggarai, eight in Nagekeo, four in Sikka and two each in Ende, West Manggarai and Ngada. Another 213 people were injured, BNPB Deputy for Prevention Abdul Muhari said at a press conference.

At least 1,576 aftershocks have been recorded since the main earthquake.

The earlier quake was centred around 30 km northeast of Mbay in Nagekeo Regency at a depth of 15 km.

Damage reported after NTT earthquake

The NTT earthquake heavily damaged 914 houses, while 126 houses suffered moderate damage and 317 sustained light damage.

It also damaged 93 educational facilities, 36 health facilities and 38 government offices.

Roads in the affected areas remain generally passable, although some restrictions are in place. Authorities have reported no residents missing across the seven affected regencies.

Relief operations underway in NTT

The Health Ministry has sent two field hospitals to Manggarai and Nagekeo and deployed medical and crisis management teams to support healthcare services in the earthquake-hit areas.

Electricity restoration in western and eastern Flores Island has reached 99.5%, while telecommunications services across Flores have recovered to 95.4%.

The Indonesian military has deployed personnel and equipment to speed up the distribution of relief supplies to areas that remain difficult to access.

The East Nusa Tenggara provincial government has also declared a 14-day emergency response period following the August 15 earthquake.