Moderate earthquake rattles Indonesia's Java island

Moderate earthquake rattles Indonesia's Java island

2010-12-21 11:55:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake rattled the Indonesian island of Java on late Tuesday morning, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake at 10.59 a.m. local time (0359 GMT) was centered off the southern coast of Java, approximately 135 kilometers (85 miles) south-southwest of the city of Madium. It struck about 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the country's seismological agency.

BNO News reporter Djatmiko Waluyo, who was staying at a guest house in Yogyakarta at the time of the earthquake, described feeling moderate shaking for approximately 15 to 20 seconds. "Lamps and fans were swerving side to side and water was evidently moving," he said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that approximately 12.3 million people may have felt light shaking in the region, while several hundreds may have felt moderate shaking.

There were no reports of damage or casualties.

Indonesia is on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions also occur frequently in the region.

On December 26, 2004, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The 9.1-magnitude earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami, striking scores of countries. In all, at least 227,898 people were killed.

Most recently, on October 25, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck just off the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra. As a result, a wall of water killed at least 435 people on the islands and impacted more than 20 villages.

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