Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – At least two people were killed and thousands more forced to flee their homes in the early hours of the morning after a powerful earthquake rocked the vicinity of Sulawesi island. The 7.5 magnitude quake hit the coastal city of Gorontalo, with an epicenter 21 km deep at a distance of 135 km. The strongest quake was followed by dozens more tremors, some registering 5.8 on the Richter scale. Thousands abandoned their homes in the ensuing panic, even if the tsunami warning issued by the government was later revoked.
A Health Ministry spokesman has confirmed that the death toll so far stands at 2 victims with 37 people wounded, 200 homes damaged, others completely destroyed. News, however, is precarious leading to fears that the death toll is far higher in some areas.
In Poso city (central Sulawesi), people fled from their homes and a hospital was evacuated. Schools across the region remain closed.
The Indonesian archipelago lies on a highly active seismic zone, the so-called “ring of fire”. In 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean generated a tsunami that killed over 170 thousand people in the province of Aceh. Days ago the government launched an early tsunami warning system of the latest technology, but experts say that some areas of the country are not completely covered and that the system will only be fully operative by 2010.