Magnitude 6.1 quake rattles Indonesia's West Java

JAKARTA – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s West Java province on Thursday (Dec 8), the country’s geophysics agency (BMKG) said, prompting residents in areas near the epicentre to flee their homes in panic.

The quake, with an epicentre 22km from the city of Sukabumi, has no potential to trigger a tsunami and struck at a depth of 104km, the agency said.

Residents fled their houses in Sukabumi, according to footage aired by the TVOne news channel.

Tremors were also felt in the capital Jakarta and surrounding areas, Reuters witnesses said.

Abdul Muhari, an official at Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), told Reuters there were no reports of damage so far but the agency is still assessing the situation.

Last month, a shallow 5.6-magnitude struck the city of Cianjur, also in West Java, killing more than 300 people and causing damage to thousands of homes.

Straddling the so-called Ring of Fire, a highly seismically active zone where different plates on the earth’s crust meet, Indonesia has a history of devastating earthquakes.

In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people.

ALSO READ: Magnitude 6.2 quake rattles Indonesia's Bali, Java islands: Geophysics agency