Earthquake in Indonesia’s Java, Bali kills six; no tsunami warning

A strong earthquake killed at least six persons and damaged buildings on Indonesia’s main island of Java and shook the tourist hotspot of Bali, officials said on Saturday. No tsunami warnings were posted.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2 p.m. local time (0700 GMT). It was centered 45km (28 miles) south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82km (51 miles).

Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami centre, said in a statement the undersea earthquake 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 for landslides.

Falling rocks killed a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java’s Lumajang district, vice-district chief Indah Amperawati told MetroTV. Several homes were also reportedly damaged in the district.
Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency released videos and photos of damaged houses and buildings, including a ceiling at a hospital in Blitar, a city neighboring Malang. Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500, while more than 92,000 displaced, after striking Mamuju and Majene districts in West Sulawesi province.