A strong earthquake on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed at least eight people, including a woman whose motorcycle was hit by falling rocks, and damaged more than 1,300 buildings, officials said yesterday. It did not trigger a tsunami.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2pm on Saturday.
It was centered 45km south of Sumberpucung town in East Java province, at a depth of 82km.
Photo: AFP
Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday ordered swift rescue and relief efforts to help the victims.
Two shelters for the displaced have been set up in the town of Lumajang.
All of the casualties were reported in 15 districts and cities in East Java.
“I have ordered ... immediate emergency response to search and find victims under the rubble and to treat the wounded,” Widodo said in broadcast remarks.
Most industrial areas in East Java are located on the northern side of the island.
Rahmat Triyono, who heads the earthquake and tsunami center at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, said the undersea quake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami.
Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential to form a landslide.
The quake caused falling rocks to kill a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java’s Lumajang District, Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati said.
About 1,189 homes and 150 public facilities, including schools, hospitals and government offices, were damaged, he said.
Rescuers retrieved four bodies from the rubble in Lumajang’s Kali Uling village.
Three people were also confirmed killed by the quake in Malang District.
Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.
This was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia last week, after Tropical Cyclone Seroja caused a severe downpour on Sunday last week that killed at least 174 people and left 48 still missing in East Nusa Tenggara province.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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