Quakes jolt NTT and Sumatra, many refugees flee in panic<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Kupang, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A strong earthquake jolted East Nusa Tenggara province on Monday,
\nslightly damaging scores of buildings and causing local residents
\nto flee in panic. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
Earlier, an earthquake had also rocked Lampung and the
\nneighboring province of Bengkulu on Sunday night, but there were
\nno reports of structural damage or injuries.<\/p>\n
Monday's quake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, shook West
\nTimor at around 9:51 a.m. The epicenter was in the Timor Sea,
\nsome 72 kilometers southeast of Kupang city, volcanologists said.<\/p>\n
It caused cracks in scores of buildings in Kupang and shook
\nmost others in the city, Rote Ndao and the southern part of West
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
\"The strongest tremor was probably felt by residents in
\nsouthern Timor Island covering the regencies of Kupang, South
\nTimor Tengah, North Timor Tengah and Belu,\" said the head of the
\nKupang office of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG),
\nRivai Marulak.<\/p>\n
\"The epicenter was at a depth of 38.5 kilometers below the
\nsurface of the sea,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of officials from the East Nusa Tenggara
\nadministration fled out of their office buildings after they felt
\nthe quake.<\/p>\n
\"We were really afraid and tried to save ourselves as glass
\nthe windows and the buildings suddenly started shaking,\" said Adi
\nTiran, a protocol officer working in the province's gubernatorial
\noffice in Kupang.<\/p>\n
The quake was followed by an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the
\nRichter scale which took place at around 10:15 a.m. in the Flores
\nSea, panicking thousands of people.<\/p>\n
\"The quake in the Flores Sea was an aftershock and was only
\nfelt by residents in Alor regency and the southern part of
\nFlores,\" Rivai said.<\/p>\n
Residents said they were terrified as they feared that Flores
\nwas going to be hit by a devastating quake like the one that
\noccurred in 1991, which killed some 50 people and destroyed or
\ndamaged hundreds of buildings.<\/p>\n
\"We were scared about the possibility of another quake,
\nperhaps even more powerful,\" said Lorens Pandu, a resident of
\nKalabahi village, Alor regency.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, a quake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale also
\njolted Alor and several parts of Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
Alor Regent Ans Takalapeta said on Monday that there were no
\nreports of structural damage or injuries as the epicenter was far
\nbeneath the sea bed.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale
\njolted Lampung at about 9.57 p.m., Yusuf, an official with the
\nBMG Jakarta office was quoted by DPA as saying.<\/p>\n
He said the quake's epicenter was in the Indian Ocean, about
\n151 kilometers southwest Kotabumi town, at about 105 kilometers
\nbeneath the sea bed.<\/p>\n
Antara reported the quake also shook Bengkulu, sending
\nresidents running out of their homes in panic.<\/p>\n
On June 2000, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the
\nRichter scale struck Bengkulu, killing at least 94 people and
\nheavily damaging thousands of houses.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is located in the Pacific volcanic belt known as the
\n\"Ring of Fire\", where earthquakes and volcanoes are commonplace.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quakes-jolt-ntt-and-sumatra-many-refugees-flee-in-panic-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}