A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Papua province on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was located 83 miles southwest of Abepura, a subdistrict of the provincial capital, Jayapura, at a depth of 8 miles. While Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency initially reported a higher magnitude of 6.4, discrepancies in early measurements are not unusual. Although there is no current tsunami threat, aftershocks remain a possibility. As of now, there are no reports of significant damage or casualties.

Papua, with a population just over 1 million, is one of Indonesia's least populated provinces. This isn't the region's first experience with seismic activity. In February of this year, a similar shallow earthquake resulted in four fatalities when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea. Indonesia, an archipelago of over 270 million people, sits within the seismically active "Ring of Fire" and regularly experiences earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. A November 2022 earthquake in West Java claimed the lives of at least 602 people and injured over 7,700, while a January 2021 quake in West Sulawesi resulted in over 100 deaths and almost 6,500 injuries. The devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the coast of Aceh, serves as a stark reminder of the region's vulnerability, with approximately 230,000 lives lost across a dozen countries.