A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake shakes Indonesia's Java Island

Representational image. Pic/iStock

On Saturday, a significant earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook the southern area of Indonesia's largest island, Java. Fortunately, there were no early reports of injuries or serious property damage. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake hit at a depth of 68.3 kilometres (42.4 miles) south of Banjar city.

Despite the severity of the earthquake, no tsunami warning was issued. High-rise buildings in Jakarta shook for roughly a minute, while two-story homes in Bandung and nearby areas such as Depok, Tangerang, Bogor, and Bekasi were shaken violently. The earthquakes were detected in several cities across West Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java province, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency, reported PTI.

The report added that the weather agency has warned about the risk of aftershocks. Indonesia, with its huge archipelago and population of 270 million, is subject to regular earthquakes due to its placement along significant geological fault lines known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The country has a history of catastrophic seismic disasters, including a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in 2022 that killed at least 602 people in West Java's Cianjur city. This calamity was Indonesia's deadliest earthquake since 2018 when a quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed over 4,300 people. Furthermore, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused a tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in a dozen nations, including a high death toll in Indonesia's Aceh province, the report added.