NUSA DUA, 11 Oct 2018:
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck off the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali early today, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said – killing three people in Java and damaging some buildings while causing panic among residents.
The quake, located in the Bali Sea, also shook buildings on the resort island and some residents briefly left their homes in Bali’s capital Denpasar.
The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are being held this week in Bali and attended by more than 19,000 delegates and other guests – including ministers, central bank heads and some leaders.
The three deaths in East Java occurred after buildings collapsed while people were sleeping, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, said in a statement.
The USGS put the epicentre at 40km northeast of Sumberanyar on Java island.
Indonesia suffered a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami last month on the island of Sulawesi that killed more than 2,000 people.
Separately, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck remote New Britain island in Papua New Guinea, though there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake hit about 200km southwest of the town of Rabaul at a depth of almost 40km, just before 7am local time.
“We felt the earthquake a bit, but it was not too strong,” constable Roy Michael said by phone from Rabaul police station.
He said there was no damage in the town, but officers had not yet been able to contact villages closer to the epicentre.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves less than 0.3m high could be expected on coastlines in Papua New Guinea and neighbouring Solomon Islands. Australia’s Tsunami Warning Center said its coastlines were not at risk.
The quake was initially recorded with a magnitude of 7.3 but was downgraded. At least two aftershocks with a magnitude greater than 5 shortly followed.
In March, a 6.6 magnitude quake struck nearby and no casualties or damage were reported.
Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries, sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and is still recovering from a 7.5 quake that hit some 900 km to the west in February, killing at least 100 people.
– Reuters