A powerful earthquake rocked remote eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, killing a teenage boy who fell into a river as he fished and damaging several buildings.
The 7-magnitude quake struck a mountainous area of Papua in the early hours, almost 250 kilometers (150 miles) west of the province’s capital Jayapura, the US Geological Survey said, according to AFP.
“The quake was felt very strongly for four seconds,” said Indonesian disaster agency spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
“Residents panicked and rushed out of their homes. Rescuers were still trying to reach the area closest to the epicenter in Memberamo district.”
One house collapsed and another was partially damaged in Kasonaweja city, not far from the epicenter, while patients were evacuated from a hospital after its walls cracked, said local disaster agency official Yonas Taudufu.
A 15-year-old boy fell into a river where he was fishing and drowned when the quake hit, he said. Local people later recovered his body.
Indonesian authorities and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of any tsunami.
