JAKARTA: A powerful earthquake struck off the southern coast of Indonesia’sheavily populated Java island Friday, with the country’s disaster agencywarning that it could generate a tsunami of up to three metres (10 feet).
The 6.9 magnitude quake struck offshore at a depth 42 kilometres (26miles), some 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Labuan, southwest of thecapital Jakarta, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS initially put the quake’s magnitude at 6.8 before raising itsintensity.
Indonesia’s disaster agency pegged the quake at magnitude 7.4 and warned itcould spark a tsunami.
“There are some areas at risk of a serious threat of a tsunami that couldbe as high as three metres,” said agency official Rahmat Triyono.
“We’re still waiting for reports about damage” from the quake, he added.
Residents in Jakarta fled their homes as buildings in the megacity swayedfrom the force of the quake, which struck at 7:03 pm (1203 GMT).
“The chandelier in my apartment was shaking and I just ran from the 19thfloor,” 50-year-old Elisa told AFP.
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“Everybody else ran too. It was a really strong jolt and I was very scared.”
At least two people were killed and thousands were forced from their homesafter a major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the remote Maluku islands ineastern Indonesia this month.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to itsposition on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.
Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu onSulawesi island killed more than 2,200 people, with another thousanddeclared missing.
On December 26, 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off thecoast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 across theIndian Ocean region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia. -APP/AFP
