A strong earthquake shook the Indonesian capital late on December 15 and other cities on the country’s most populous island of Java, killing an unknown number of people amid reports of collapsed buildings.
Authorities issued a tsunami warning for parts of Java’s coastline after the quake struck just before midnight. People ran out of buildings in panic in many areas and Indonesian television showed heavy traffic on roads as people left coastal areas.
Residents gather outside their apartment blocks in Jakarta early on December 16, 2017 (local time), after a strong earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. | Photo Credit: AFP
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said there were deaths reported but could not immediately provide details. He also said there were reports that buildings had collapsed in the city of Tasikmalaya in western Java and in several western Java districts.
Image tweeted by U.S. Geological Survey locates the epicentre of the earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Java Island in Indonesia. Photo: @USGS
Mr. Nugroho said strong tremors were felt for about 20 seconds in the capital of Jakarta and in cities and villages in western and central Java.
Indonesia’s MetroTV said a general hospital in the central Java town of Banyumas was damaged and patients were evacuated.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5, was about 91 km deep and located inland. Indonesian authorities reported a quake of similar magnitude offshore of Java.
Indonesia sits on the “Pacific Ring of Fire” and has frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
