The quake was 370 km (229.9 miles) southeast of Ambon, Indonesia and estimated at a depth of 146 km, EMSC added. There was no tsunami threat from the earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PWTC) said.

EMSC had initially reported it as magnitude 6.8.

Around 200 employees and their families of state electricity department Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) gathered at Tajung Lesung beach for year-end celebrations, where the rockstars of rock-band Seventeen were performing, when the Tsunami hit them unexpectedly.

The devastating tsunami has claimed over 168 lives, while hundreds have been injured, and the death rates keep rising.

Among the dead are four members of the band – bassist M Awal Purbani, guitarist Herman Sikumbang, road manager Oki Wijaya, and crewmember Ujang, while the band’s drummer is still missing.

Zack, a crewmember of the band said in his Instagram post, “Underwater I could only pray – Jesus Christ help.”

“In the final seconds I almost ran out of breath,” he added. Eventually, he survived by clinging to part of the collapsed stage.

Yulia Dian, manager of the band told Reuters, “the survivors are treated at local hospitals and clinics, but they cannot return to Jakarta due to road blockade.”

“They’d been sharing stories they were having fun at the beach and we didn’t expect this,” he added.

The cause of the tsunami is attributed to the underwater landslide after the eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano.