Jakarta, July 30 -- The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has urged residents in five Indonesian provinces to evacuate coastal areas immediately and avoid returning until the tsunami warning is officially lifted.

This directive comes after the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday morning, following an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

BNPB General Secretary Rustian stated during a press conference that the alert applies to North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Maluku, Papua, and West Papua. He emphasized the importance of local authorities informing the public calmly and persuasively to prevent panic and ensure orderly evacuations.

He warned ...