JAKARTA, Indonesia — A powerful deep-sea earthquake damaged rural buildings in a sparsely populated island chain in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, and its significant tremors were felt widely across northern Australia.
Within the Tanimbar Islands, two school buildings and 15 houses were damaged, with one house severely damaged and three moderately damaged. Just one injured resident was reported.
“Local residents felt strong tremors for 3 to 5 seconds. When the tremors shook, panic broke out, so residents left their homes,” Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said in a press release, citing the local agency.
In keeping with 2021 data, the 7.6 temblor epicenter was in the Banda Sea, closest to the Tanimbar Islands in Maluku Province, which has a population of around 127,000. Tremors were felt in several regions, including Papua and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, in addition to northern Australia.
The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami warning, which was lifted three hours later.
“Based on 4 tide gauge observations around the middle of the earthquake, they showed no significant anomalies or changes in sea level,” agency chief Dwikorita Karnawati said.
The US Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was 65 miles deep near Australia’s northern tip. Deeper tremors are inclined to cause less surface damage than shallow tremors, but they’re felt more.
Greater than 1,000 people in northern Australia, including the town of Darwin, reported to Geoscience Australia that they felt the earthquake. Australia’s Joint Tsunami Warning Center said the quake didn’t pose a tsunami threat to the mainland or any islands or territories.
Australian singer Vassy tweeted that it was the longest quake she had felt.
![The location of a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Banda Sea is shown on a map off the coast of the Indonesian region of Tanimbar Islands and East Timor, January 10, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/shutterstock_editorial_7_6_magnitude_earthquake_in_th_13705006a.jpg?w=480)
“We ran out of the home in the midnight. I actually have never experienced an earthquake that lasted so long and was so strong. It was relatively scary,” Vassy wrote. “He woke us up in the midnight.”
Indonesia is liable to earthquakes and lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of seismic faulting across the Pacific Ocean where many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.