JAKARTA, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported about 20 aftershocks after a powerful earthquake hit off Central Sulawesi province Friday afternoon.
"According to BMKG monitoring, until 21:00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB), some 20 aftershocks have occurred in various magnitudes," BMKG Chairperson Dwikorita Karnawati said Friday evening.
The strongest aftershock was recorded at 5.6 magnitude while the mildest one was recorded at 3.4 magnitude, she added.
After conducting some analyses, the BMKG revised the scale of the major earthquake which jolted C. Sulawesi on 18:40 WIB from 6.9 magnitude to 6.8 magnitude.
The BMKG also called off an initial tsunami warning related to the earthquake at 19:47 WIB. Karnawati said people in the affected areas can return and stay in their houses, but they were highly advised to stay alert.
The strong earthquake jolted the province's Banggai Island. The BMKG reported that the earthquake's epicenter was at 85 kilometers southwest of Banggai Island, located at a global positioning point of 1.90 degree South Latitude and 122.54 degree East Longitude.
On Sept. 28, 2018, the province's cities of Palu and Donggala were hit by a devastating earthquake at a scale of 7.5 which was followed by a tsunami.
The disasters claimed some 4,340 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands others. The rehabilitation and relocation work for those displaced is still underway.
