Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit North Maluku on Sunday afternoon has claimed the lives of two people on Halmahera Island, who were crushed to death when their houses collapsed, an official told BeritaSatu TV on Monday.

"According to our officers in South Halmahera, two residents have died, crushed beneath the rubble of their homes," Kustoro Hariyatmoko, the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said in Ternate, North Maluku.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency announced that some of the island's residents have now returned to their homes as no more aftershocks were felt on Monday.

Indonesia sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by deadly earthquakes.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/context/powerful-quake-kills-two-on-halmahera-island