Daily Times

A strong inland and shallow earthquake hit parts of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island late Saturday night, sending people fleeing despite appeals by officials to keep distance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.8 quake was centered 64 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Central Sulawesi province’s Pendolo town, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Indonesia’s national disaster agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said the earthquake didn’t have any potential to cause a tsunami. Still, many people in the provincial capital of Palu ran to higher ground, haunted by the memory of a devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the city two years ago that set off a tsunami as well as a phenomenon called liquefaction in which wet soil is collapsed by the shaking. More than 4,000 people died.