After NTT, North Sumatra Also Shaken by Strong Earthquake, Tremors Felt as Far as Aceh

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred on Saturday (15/8) at around 5.57 p.m. Western Indonesia Time at a depth of 163 kilometres, 10 kilometres southeast of Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra Province. The earthquake was also felt by a number of residents in Aceh Province.

“I panicked during the earthquake earlier; my children and I went out of the house because we were afraid of the shaking,” said Sovi, a resident of Suak Ribee Village, Meulaboh, West Aceh Regency, on Saturday afternoon.

The North Sumatra earthquake occurred after a powerful tremor in East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday morning. The NTT earthquake caused at least 38 deaths.

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Lieutenant General TNI Suharyanto said that 31 aftershocks occurred on Saturday following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Nagekeo Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

“The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has provided information that as of 3.00 p.m. today, 31 aftershocks have occurred,” Suharyanto said during an online press conference in Jakarta on Saturday.

Of the 31 aftershocks, four were recorded as having quite significant magnitudes. “The first significant aftershock had a magnitude of 6.2 at 5.13 a.m., almost the same as the first earthquake, at a depth of 10 km and still located at sea,” he said.