Two strong earthquakes that struck eastern Indonesia killed at least three people and injured 45 others, a senior official said Monday. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed or damaged as panicked residents fled their homes. The first quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, struck late Sunday just off Sumbawa island, briefly triggering a tsunami alert. Several hours later, a powerful aftershock hit the same region. On Monday, several aftershocks caused jumpy residents to flee their homes. Media reports said rumors of an approaching tsunami caused some to panic further. Minutes after the quake, electricity was temporarily cut in some places, including a hospital, which was briefly evacuated. Earlier on Sunday, a third earthquake rattled residents on the west coast of Sumatra island. Scores of people fled from their homes in the region, which has been hit by a series of powerful earthquakes in recent months. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on the so-called Pacific «Ring of Fire,» an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin, the Associated Press reported.
