By KUNA,
Kuala Lumpur : A strong earthquake measuring 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale hit Sulawesi Island in northern Indonesia here on Monday, killing two people and damaging a great number of houses.
Indonesian Agency Antaranews stated that the earthquake killed two people according to early reports, while three others are reported injured. This is in addition to reports of damage to thousands of buildings.
The Indonesian national earthquake centre said in a statement that the center of the earthquake is located 136 kilometers (84 miles) from coastal Gronotalo city, at the depth of 21 kilometers.
Indonesia briefly issued a tsunami warning in the surrounding areas, 1,000 kilometers from the earthquake’s center, which was lifted later because no strong waves were registered.
Indonesia was among the worst hit countries from the December 2004 Tsunami, which killed 200,000 people in 11 Asian countries. Some 168,000 of the victims were Indonesian.
This strong earthquake comes less than a week from the inauguration of a tsunami early warning system, set up to avoid such disasters in the future.
This system cost the country IDR (Indonesian Rupees) 1.4 trillions, which comes to about USD 130.2 million, and the center has the ability to detect destructive Tsunami waves.
Indonesia, a nation of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.