National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo said the quakes also destroyed 20 houses in Rangga-Rangga village of East Gane district, 28 houses in Saketa village of West Gane district, six houses in Dolik village of Northwest Gane district and five houses in Kluting Jaya village of South Weda district.

“An emergency status has gone into effect for seven days, from [Monday] to [Sunday],” Agus said during a press briefing at the BNPB’s headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.

The affected individuals were forced to relocate to 14 temporary shelters in South Halmahera set up at the regent’s office, precinct police headquarters and a mosque, said Agus.

Agus said the BNPB had deployed staff to the affected areas to handle the aftermath, while local administrations together with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police were setting up tents and distributing basic necessities in the shelters.

“We face several challenges, because some locations are isolated and can only be accessed by boat, while aftershocks are still occurring,” Agus said.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the first quaky occurred on Sunday at 6:10 p.m. local time, followed by 70 aftershocks ranging in magnitude between 3.1 and 5.8 until 12 p.m. on Monday.

BMKG earthquake division head Rahmat Triyono said the epicenter of the quake was about 63 kilometers east of Labuha in South Halmahera at a depth of 10 km. He added that no risk of a tsunami had been detected.

“The earthquakes were caused by shifts in the Sorong-Bacan fault due to rock deformation […] the quake was also reportedly felt in Manado, Ambon and Ternate,” Rahmat said.

Based on information from the South Halmahera Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the quake was felt for two to five seconds in most of the regency, prompting people to panic and rush out of their homes.

Meanwhile, the BMKG reported a 6.6-magnitude earthquake off the northwestern coast of Australia on Sunday, which was also felt in Sumbawa and Lombok regency in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Waikabubak and Waingapu in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on Sunday.

The epicenter of the quake was about 10 km under the Indian Ocean and 203 km west of the West Australian beach resort of Broome, according to the United States Geological Survey.

There have been no reports of injuries or damage from the affected regions.

“The earthquakes were caused by activity in the inner-shelf fault zone, which extends from the southwest to the east of Broome beach, West Australia,” BMKG’s earthquake information and early tsunami warning division head Daryono told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier on Saturday, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit Sumbawa and destroyed a number of houses and a house of worship in Labangka district. The earthquake was detected 70 km southeast of Sumbawa at a depth of 43 km.

In Labangka subdistrict, the earthquake damaged the Semare Budhi temple in Beringin Jaya village and at least five other houses. A house in Sekokat subdistrict and the office of the Labangka animal health center (Puskeswan) in Sukadamai were also destroyed, according to the NTB Disaster Mitigation Agency.

As of Sunday, the BMKG has recorded at least 45 aftershocks around the epicenter of the first earthquake, but no tsunami risk was detected.

“The earthquakes that happened lately in several regions were unrelated to one another due to their different sources,” Daryono added. (awa)

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