Quake jolts Irian Jaya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A major earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter
\nscale jolted Irian Jaya province yesterday afternoon, with Paniai
\nregency the hardest hit area.<\/p>\n
Margiono, an official of the National Quake Center at the
\nMeteorological and Geophysics office told The Jakarta Post that
\nthe quake struck at 1:03 p.m. Eastern Indonesian Time with the
\nepicenter located in the sea off Cendrawasih Bay.<\/p>\n
The center of the quake was recorded at 33 kilometers below
\nthe earth's surface.<\/p>\n
Margiono said tremors were felt in Nabire and Eranatoli as
\nwell as in Timika where PT Freeport Indonesia, an enormous copper
\nmining company, is located.<\/p>\n
People in those areas said the tremors caused windows and
\nwalls to shake and pottery to break.<\/p>\n
No casualties were recorded through late yesterday afternoon,
\nbut Antara reported that the quake, which lasted for six seconds,
\ndestroyed a number of houses and badly damaged a junior high
\nschool.<\/p>\n
It was the third earthquake to hit the regency this year.<\/p>\n
Irian Jaya is a sparsely populated mountainous province.
\nEarthquakes are common in the region.<\/p>\n
In Nabire, an earthquake measuring six on the Richter scale
\noccurred in April. No casualties were reported.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 9, a quake measuring 5.5 shook the area, with tremors
\nfelt as far away as Biak, Timika and Wamena. The epicenter of
\nthat quake was near Napan Wainame, some 550 kilometers southwest
\nof the provincial capital of Jayapura. (par)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quake-jolts-irian-jaya-1447893297",
"image": ""
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