Damage from Indonesian quake estimated at $8.5 million

JAKARTA. February 13. KAZINFORM The damage from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake north of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is estimated to be $8.5 million, the Indonesian Jakarta Post reported on Friday.

The earthquake, which struck near the Talaud Islands in North Sulawesi province early on Thursday morning, seriously damaged 560 buildings, including schools and hospitals. Another 320 buildings suffered insignificant damage, according to the newspaper. There have been no reports of deaths, but 49 people have been injured, 10 of them seriously, and some 3,000 people are in temporary shelters. A tsunami warning was announced immediately after the earthquake, which woke the islanders just after midnight on Wednesday night, but was soon canceled. Since the first tremor, there have been at least 35 aftershocks with a magnitude of over 5.0 and one at 6.3. Part of the Pacific's Ring of Fire, Indonesia is the world's most seismically active region, registering 6,000-7,000 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or above annually, Kazinfor, cites RIA Novosti.