HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE TAKE REFUGE DUE TO EARTHQUAKE IN NORTH SULAWESI

Manado, North Sulawesi, Feb. 12 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of people living in coastal areas in Talaud District fled their homes to find higher ground in fear of a possible tsunami following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit the region early Thursday morning.

But the temblor which occurred at 1.34 am local time was not followed by public tsunami alarms so that the panic-stricken residents went back to their homes later in the morning, Tonny Lamagari, a local resident, said here on Thursday.
The powerful quake damaged several houses and at least five persons were reported injured, he said.
The quake's epicenter was located at 3.85 degrees northern latitude and 126.67 degrees eastern longitude, around 112 km southeast of Melonguane, Talaud District, at a depth of 10 km below sea level.
The temblor was felt at the IV-V MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) by Talaud residents.
Meanwhile, an officer at Manado's meteorological, geophysics and climaltlogical agency, Mudjianto, said the agency had initially issued a warning that the earthquake had the potential to trigger a tsunami. But the alert was later withdrawn as there were no signs of a rise in the sea level.
Tens of aftershocks with magnitudes ranging between 5 and 5.7
on the Richter scale continued to jolt Talaud later in the day.