Earthquake with tsunami warning in Indonesia

Bali tsunami warning as massive 5.7-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Indonesia

• An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 struck off the coast of Bali
• The quake was detected north-east of Kemeduran and sparked tsunami fears
• Quake was 125km north-east of Surabaya and had a depth of 588km
• It's the latest in a series of earthquakes that have rocked 'The Ring of Fire'

Daily Mail,

21 September, 2017

A huge undersea earthquake has struck off the coast of Bali, Indonesia.

The 5.7 magnitude quake was detected 125km northeast of Surabaya, Java, on Thursday, the US Geological Survey has confirmed.

With a measured at a depth of 588km, the quake immediately sparked fears of a tsunami.

It is the latest in a series of intense earthquakes that have rocked New Zealand, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico - 'the Pacific Ring Of Fire' - in the last 48-hours.

Although an official tsunami warning has not been issued, locals living near Mount Agung volcano were seen evacuating their homes following increased seismic activity in Karangasem.

One woman was pictured loading numerous items from her home into a truck before covering them with a tarp.

Groups of people were also seen gathering at a lookout point to watch Mount Agung for eruption following the quake.

Officials significantly increased the size of the evacuation zone around the volcano on Monday, raising the alert level to high.

'We see that the earthquake frequency is very high, this is worrying when it comes to eruption,' Pak Kasbani, the head of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, told ABC.

'The areas should be closed, no hiking because the seismic activity will trigger dangerous gas.'

No volcanic ash has been seen, but smoke is rising from the crater, he said.

Bali's Governor Made Mangku Pastika told locals this week measures were in place to handle an eruption and urged them to remain calm.

'This is a natural disaster, we cannot avoid it, we can't stop it exploding but we can reduce the number of victims and loses,' he said.

'If you have to evacuate, you evacuate.'

The earthquake in Indonesia came just hours after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Vanuatu.

The earthquake struck Erromago, an island in the Vanuatu archipelago roughly 135 kilometres south of the capital city of Port Vila, at 7.09am local time on Thursday.

Initial fears of a tsunami threat across the Pacific region were squashed after it was revealed the earthquake struck at a depth of 200 kilometres.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center confirmed there were no tsunami threats following the Vanuatu quake.

'Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii,' the centre said.

There have been no reports yet detailing the extent of damage done to Erromago, a tiny island with a population of just under 2,000 people.

Vanuatu, which has a population of 270,000, is made up of 80 nations scattered across 1,300 kilometres of ocean.

The island country sits directly on top of the 'Ring of Fire', a place where tectonic plates collide and move causing almost 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes.

Mexico was devastated by a 7.1 magnitude on Tuesday, killing at least 230 people and leaving hundreds more trapped underneath collapsed buildings.

Two powerful earthquakes struck New Zealand on Wednesday, while Japan had scares of a national disaster after a quake hit off the coast east of Fukushima early on Thursday morning.