April 29, 2024
JAKARTA – An earthquake south of West Java on Saturday evening that was felt in Jakarta has damaged hundreds of buildings in several cities and regencies in the province and left several people injured, without reports of any fatalities.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), a magnitude-6.2 earthquake rocked the region at 11:29 p.m. on Saturday. The epicenter of the quake was located about 156 kilometers southwest of Garut, West Java at a depth of 70 kilometers below sea level.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.1 at a depth of 68.3 km. The quake produced a shock that affected several cities and regencies in West Java, including the Banjar municipality and the Garut, Bandung, Tasikmalaya and Sukabumi regencies.
The quake was also felt in Jakarta, Serang, Banten and Yogyakarta, which are located as far as 350 km from the epicenter.
While BMKG did not issue a tsunami alert because of the earthquake, it alerted people in areas where the shock was felt.
“I screamed to my wife and kids to tell them to get out of the house,” Iman Krisnawan, a 47-year-old resident of the provincial capital of Bandung, told AFP. “Usually, earthquakes last about 5 seconds, but this one lasted between 10 and 15 seconds.”
Authorities recorded at least 110 houses and buildings that were damaged by the earthquake, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Garut regency took the brunt with over 41 houses damaged. A hospital in the Pameungpeuk district of the regency also suffered some damage, although the disaster agency did not specify the extent of the damage.
The disaster agency also recorded that some public facilities such as mosques and schools in Sukabumi and Tasikmalaya regencies sustained damage from the earthquake, according to reports from the West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).
At least eight people were injured because of the impacts of the earthquake, with around 75 households affected by the disaster. Authorities are still updating the number of damaged buildings and injuries as they monitor each area, according to BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
“To anticipate aftershocks, Sumedang Regency BPBD has set up tents for evacuees at the parking lot of Sumedang General Hospital,” Abdul said in a statement on Sunday.
BMKG did not forecast aftershocks on Saturday night except for a magnitude-3.1 earthquake on Sunday morning.
“Last night’s quake was the mainshock, then it ran out of energy. There weren’t any foreshocks and there won’t be any aftershocks,” BMKG earthquake and tsunami center head Daryono said in a statement on Sunday.
Despite the lack of aftershocks, the agency warned against potential disasters such as landslides and flash floods after the earthquake, which potentially weakened some cliffs. Landslide can occur if heavy rain or floods, which can carry materials like mud and rocks, hit such cliffs.
BMKG also warned residents against staying inside a home damaged by the quake. “Check and make sure that the building is quake-proof and has no damage that would destabilize it before returning to your home,” warned BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati.
Lying on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is no stranger to earthquakes.
One of the latest earthquakes to rock Java before the Saturday quake occurred on March 22 around 132 km north of Tuban in East Java.
The magnitude 6.1 earthquake had an epicenter at a depth of 10 km, with tremors felt strongly in East Java, including in the provincial capital of Surabaya. Thousands of buildings were damaged, and several people were injured.
The Saturday earthquake raised concerns of a megathrust earthquake that, according to several studies including one published in 2022, might occur on the southern coast of Java and southeastern part of Sumatra.
Megathrust quakes occur in subduction zones, regions where tectonic plates are thrust under one another, according to a definition provided by the Canadian government. Should this happen near the southern coast of Java, an earthquake might reach a magnitude of 9 and trigger a tsunami that could reach as high as 34 meters.
But BMKG said the Garut quake was not a megathrust earthquake. According to the agency’s analysis, it was a medium intraslab earthquake that occurred because of rock deformation in the Indo-Australia tectonic plate, which is being subducted into the Eurasia plate. (kuk)