Indonesia lifts tsunami alert after 7.2 quake

A local tsunami alert was issued and later lifted after a magnitude 7.2 quake struck off Papua, eastern Indonesia early this morning.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported a strong 6.6 tremor followed by the stronger second quake, which hit at 2.11am today. The latter was only 12.3km deep and centred 109 km northwest of Dobo, in the Aru Islands, very close to the first quake.

An official at the Indonesian meteorological agency said there were no reports of damage or of a tsunami.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes.

An employee works in front of computers monitoring the Tsunami warning system in Jakarta