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Powerful 6.8-magnitude quake rocks eastern Indonesia

No casualties were immediately reported

© EPA/STENLY PANTOLAWOKANG

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. /TASS/. A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake was registered in the Moluccan Sea off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center reported.

According to the center, the earthquake's epicenter lay at a depth of 13 kilometers. The tremors were registered about 505 kilometers northeast of the city of Makassar (inhabited by 1.3 million people).

There were no immediate reports about casualties or destruction.

Reuters reported citing a spokesperson for Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics that the country had issued a tsunami alert and ordered partial evacuation after the earthquake.

According to the spokesperson, the government advised people living in central Sulawesi to evacuate over a tsunami threat.

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