Indonesia Says Magnitude 7 Quake off Sulawesi, Residents Flee Buildings

Children walk past a house that collapsed in an earthquake, Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2022. (AFP)
Children walk past a house that collapsed in an earthquake, Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2022. (AFP)
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Indonesia Says Magnitude 7 Quake off Sulawesi, Residents Flee Buildings

Children walk past a house that collapsed in an earthquake, Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2022. (AFP)
Children walk past a house that collapsed in an earthquake, Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2022. (AFP)

A powerful earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude struck off Indonesia's North Sulawesi province on Wednesday, the country's geophysics agency said, adding that there was no tsunami potential.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, however, warned in a bulletin that there was a risk of tsunami waves located within 300 kilometers of the epicenter.

The Indonesian agency said with the quake's epicenter was at a depth of 64 kilometers (39.77 miles), 141 kilometers southeast of the town of Melonguane.

A resident in the city of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, said by telephone that the quake was felt very strongly for several seconds and people were seen running out of buildings.

However, the resident said, so far, no visible damage had been seen and some people had returned to their homes.

The quake was also felt in the Maluku islands, the local disaster agency added.

Indonesia rests atop the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world, experiencing frequent earthquakes.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.