Massive Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Palu on Sulawesi Island

A powerful 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Sulawesi Island on Tuesday, with its epicentre located around 42 km southeast of Palu at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km.

The quake occurred in the morning hours, with its epicentre positioned at 1.073° South latitude and 120.263° East longitude, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS).

No immediate information was available on the extent of casualties or damage at the time of reporting.

A separate incident involved a powerful earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale striking off Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

The tremor impacted waters near Sumatra, a region that frequently experiences seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire,’ where several tectonic plates converge.

Indonesia issued tsunami alerts for parts of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, warning that waves as high as three metres could strike the affected areas.

The disaster agency directed authorities in Manado, Gorontalo and the Sangihe Islands to initiate orderly evacuations to higher ground as tsunami concerns escalated.

Tsunami waves of varying heights were monitored at six stations by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), with the highest recorded measuring 1.4 metres.

This incident follows an earlier earthquake that hit the southern city of General Santos in the Philippines, resulting in at least 32 fatalities and damage to buildings.