5.9-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia’s Java

SUKABUMI, Indonesia—A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s most-populated island on Monday, shaking buildings in Jakarta, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.

The quake struck 96 kilometers (59 miles) southwest of the city of Sukabumi in western Java after 6:00 pm (1100 GMT) at a depth of 67 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

The tremor was felt 200 kilometers away in Jakarta, causing tall buildings to shake.

“The quake was quite strong but we have no reports yet of casualties or damage. We will monitor the affected area,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP.

Nugroho said the quake struck around 50 kilometers offshore but no tsunami warning was issued, and that activities in Sukabumi had “gone back to normal.”

An AFP correspondent in Sukabumi said residents ran from their homes in panic.

“I was praying at the time and suddenly it struck, so my husband and I ran outside the house into the yard. Luckily, I can’t see any damage to our home,” 27-year-old Hefei, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

The Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency earlier measured it as a 6.1-magnitude quake with a depth of 24 kilometres.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.