Powerful earthquake 6.1 points of the Richter scale occurred today off the coast of East Timorannounced the American Institute of Geophysical Studies, and may cause a tsunami.
The quake occurred at a focal depth of 51.4 kilometers, 51.4 kilometers from the eastern tip of the island of Timor, which belongs halfway to East Timor and Indonesia.
Tsunami monitoring service said the quake could shake «cause a tsunami in the Indian Ocean region».
East Timor is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates intersect and intense seismic activity is recorded.
In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook the region Sumatrain neighboring Indonesia, had an effect to kill at least eight people.
In 2004, a lot A magnitude 9.1 earthquake shook the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 people. across the region, 170,000 in Indonesia.
East Timor, with a population of 1.3 million, is the youngest state in Southeast Asia, recently celebrating the 20th anniversary of its independence.
The former Portuguese colony gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002, after 24 years of occupation.
Its economy, mostly rural, has been hit hard by the new coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Bank, 42% of East Timor’s population lives below the poverty line.
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