Multiple quakes jolt Indonesia, tsunami alert issued

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Multiple quakes jolt Indonesia, tsunami alert issued

Indonesia - Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where several tectonic plates meet

By Reuters

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Published: Sat 16 Dec 2017, 5:14 AM

Last updated: Sat 16 Dec 2017, 1:29 PM

 Multiple quakes jolt Indonesia, tsunami alert issued
Multiple quakes have jolted Indonesia's West Java province prompting authorities to issue a tsunami alert, disaster management officials said on Saturday.
The initial earthquake measuring 4.5-magnitude occurred in Sukabumi, 48 km southwest of West Java city, at 11.04 pm on Friday, at a depth of 50 km, reports Xinhua news agency.
A second earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred about 40 minutes later with the epicentre at 74 km southwest of Kawalu, at a depth of 105 km in the province's Tasikmalaya region.
A third earthquake with a 6.9 magnitude took place almost at the same time, also in Tasikmalaya with the epicentre located in 11 km southwest of Tasikmalaya at a depth of 107 km, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
The agency issued tsunami warning in three provinces of West Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta after the second earthquake.
However the warning was called off earlier on Saturday.
 Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said two people in West Java and Central Java province were killed, seven others injured and over 100 buildings damaged.
"Areas mostly affected the most by the earthquakes were Pangandaran, Tasikmalaya, Ciamis, Banjar, Garut, Cilacap, Kebumen, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Brebes and Banjarnegara," Sutopo said. 
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A powerful magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the island of Java in Indonesia just before midnight on Friday, with authorities reporting two deaths and damage to scores of buildings. 
The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 92 km (57 miles), about 52 km southwest of Tasikmalaya.
Indonesia's national disaster management agency said the quake activated early tsunami warning systems in the south of Java, prompting evacuations in some coastal areas, but no tsunami was detected.
Tremors were felt in central and west Java and a series of aftershocks stoked panic.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the disaster agency, said in a statement on Saturday two people had been killed, seven injured and more than 100 buildings damaged, including a hospital in Central Java.
About 70 patients had to be helped to safety from the Banyumas Hospital and were given shelter in tents, he said.
He posted on his Twitter page photos of people scouring collapsed buildings.
The quake swayed buildings for several seconds in the capital Jakarta.
Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency said a magnitude 5.7 quake early on Saturday also struck south of West Java. It said the quake did not have tsunami potential.
Java, Indonesia's most densely populated island, is home to more than half of its 250 million people.
 
 


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