7.6 quake damages buildings in Indonesia, felt in Australia
Jakarta (AP): A powerful deep-sea earthquake damaged village buildings in a lightly populated island chain in eastern Indonesia early Tuesday, and its substantial shaking was widely felt in northern Australia.
Two school buildings and 15 houses were damaged in the Tanimbar islands, with one of the homes heavily damaged and three moderately damaged. Only one injured resident was reported.
"Local residents felt strong tremors for three to five seconds. There was panic when the quake shook so the residents left their houses," Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said in a statement, citing the local agency.
The epicentre of the magnitude 7.6 temblor was in the Banda Sea, nearest the Tanimbar islands in Maluku province that have about 127,000 residents, according to 2021 data.
Tremors were felt in several regions, including Papua and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, as well as in northern Australia.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency issued a tsunami warning that was lifted three hours later.
"Based on four tide gauge observations around the centre of the earthquake, it did not show any significant anomaly or change in sea level," agency head Dwikorita Karnawati said.
The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was at a depth of 105 kilometres (65 miles) not far from Australia's northern tip. Deeper quakes tend to cause less surface damage than shallow shaking but are more widely felt.
More than 1,000 people in northern Australia, including in the city of Darwin, reported to Geoscience Australia that they felt the quake. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake didn't pose a tsunami threat to the mainland or any islands or territories.
Australian singer Vassy wrote on Twitter it was the longest quake she had felt.
"We ran out of the house in the middle of the night I've never experienced earthquake that lasted that long and felt so strong. It was rather scary," Vassy wrote. "Woke us up in the middle of the night."
Indonesia is frequently shaken by earthquakes and lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
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Organisation should be strengthened: Tharoor supports Digvijaya's views
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday came out in support of the views of his party colleague Digvijaya Singh, saying the organisation should be strengthened.
At the 140th Foundation Day event at the Congress' Indira Bhawan headquarters, Tharoor was seated next to Digvijaya Singh and exchanged notes.
Ahead of the CWC meet on Saturday, Singh created a flutter by lauding the organisational power of RSS-BJP as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
He also raised the issue of strengthening the Congress organisation at the grassroots level, asserting it was much needed in the fight against the ruling BJP and to oust it from power.
A day later, Digvijaya Singh said he had already stated whatever he had to say. "For 50 years I have been with the Congress party, and I have fought these communal forces, whether in the assembly, parliament or in the organisation," he noted.
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"I have basic differences and am opposed to their ideology. I have and will continue to fight against such people," Singh claimed. When asked to comment on his Saturday's remarks, he said, "Every organisation needs strengthening.
Tharoor, when asked to comment on the issue, said, "The organisation should be strengthened, there is no doubt."
On being seated next to Singh and whether the two exchanged views on the matter, Tharoor said, "We keep talking with each other, we are friends and talk to each other."
"It is the 140th foundation day of the Congress. It is a very important event for the party. It is a day in which we look back on our very remarkable history and the contributions the party has made to the nation," he also told reporters.
In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "Today marks the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Indian National Congress, an organisation that played a pivotal role in leading India's struggle for independence from British rule."
"Since its first session in 1885, the party has remained a cornerstone of the nation's democratic journey and political evolution. The occasion was marked with solemnity and camaraderie at Indira Bhavan today," Tharoor said in his post.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said, "I feel the BJP is distorting the intent of Digvijaya's post. The Sangh, which spreads hatred and gets inspiration from the ideology of Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, we don't need to learn anything from them."
"We are the Indian National Congress, and we fought the freedom struggle against injustice and exploitation of the British rule, and turned it into a Jan Andolan. We don't need to learn anything from anyone; rather, others should learn from us," Shrinate claimed.
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Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "We have a lot in the Congress, and others should learn from the Congress instead. We certainly don't need to learn from the RSS as we oppose that ideology."
Another leader, Rajiv Shukla, said, "The roots of this party are so deep that they can never be wiped out."
#WATCH | Delhi | On Congress leader Digvijaya Singh praising the organisational strength of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "We have a history of 140 years, and we can learn a lot from it. We can learn from ourselves, too. Discipline is very… pic.twitter.com/NUfz7scRiu
— ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2025
