JAKARTA: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesian islands yesterday, according to the US Geological Survey, but no tsunami alert was issued. The undersea quake, at a depth of 38km, struck the Molucca Sea between Sulawesi and the Maluku chain of islands. “The quake was felt strongly for five seconds, causing people to run from their homes,” the National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. The quake was initially measured at 6.9-magnitude and 48km in depth but was later revised by the USGS to 6.5 in strength and 10km shallower than earlier reported. In West Halmahera, panicked people took refuge to higher grounds for fear a tsunami might hit, a local disaster management official said. Officials said there were no reports of damage or casualties from yesterday’s quake.
Japan plane makes emergency landing
MANILA: A Japan-bound All Nippon Airways jet returned to Manila airport and made an emergency landing yesterday after pilots reported smoke in the cockpit, Philippine authorities said. There were no reported injuries and all 175 passengers and 10 crew safely disembarked from the Boeing 767, said Manila International Airport Authority public affairs officer Ariel Arcilla. Investigators are looking into the cause of the cockpit smoke, which the pilots noticed shortly after take-off from Manila, he added. The jet, bound for Tokyo’s Narita airport, was airborne for 35 minutes before making a successful emergency landing, Arcilla said.
Myanmar army admits KIA attack
YANGON: Myanmar’s powerful army has admitted a heavy weapons strike in strife-torn northern Kachin state that rebels say killed over 20 people, as escalation of the fighting cast doubt over faltering peace talks. The military said its artillery hit a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training camp by accident in Wednesday’s incident, which the KIA said was one of the biggest single attacks it had faced in recent years. “The Tatmadaw (army) camp fired a warning shot of a large-calibre weapon which fell and exploded at a KIA camp, causing casualties,” according to a report in the English language Global New Light of Myanmar.
Agencies
