An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale jolted South Halmahera District, North Maluku, on Tuesday (Aug. 14), injuring one teenager and damaging at least 41 houses, ANTARA reported. "The number of injured persons and damaged houses may increase as we are still collecting data from other affected areas in South Halmahera District," South Halmahera deputy district chief A. Wally said in Labuha on Wednesday. The teenager was injured in his head by a wooden beam that got dislodged due to the earthquake. Wally said the South Halmmahera district administration would provide assistance for the rehabilitation of damaged houses. Thousands of local residents fled to higher grounds in mountainous areas in fear of a subsequent tsunami. They have now returned to their respective homes as the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. The Ternate meteorology and geophysics office reported that the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 13 km northeast of Labuha Sea at a depth of 33 km. Indonesia sits on the seismically active "Pacific Ring of Fire" and experiences frequent earthquakes as well as tsunamis triggered by underwater earthquakes.
