7.5 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Indonesia

Breaking: Multiple Earthquakes Hit Indonesia, At Least 1 Dead

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake occurred Friday evening local time on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
A 6.1 magnitude foreshock struck earlier in the day, killing at least one person.

A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi Friday evening just hours after a powerful, deadly foreshock.

The main tremor struck at 6:02 p.m. local time Friday evening (6:02 a.m. EDT) about 50 miles north of Palu, Indonesia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shortly after, the Indonesia Tsunami Early Warning System issued a tsunami alert for the area surrounding the epicenter. Other official agencies did not issue tsunami alerts following the temblor.

"Our early estimation, based on experience, is that it caused widespread damage, beginning from (the provincial capital) Palu northward to Donggala," National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told MetroTV, as reported by the Associated Press.

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There were at least 10 foreshocks and aftershocks recorded at magnitude 5 or stronger on Friday.

It wasn't immediately clear how widespread the damage was from 7.5 magnitude earthquake, which was relatively shallow in preliminary observations – just 6.2 miles deep, according to the USGS. Earlier Friday, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed one person, injured several others and damaged dozens of homes, according to the AP.

"It happened while we still have difficulties in collecting data from nine villages affected by the first quake," an official with Akris, the local disaster agency, told the AP. "People ran out in panic."

This is a developing story; please check back frequently for more information.

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