Earthquake rattles two regencies in Bali

Earthquake rattles two regencies in Bali

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Bali

Bali was jolted by a magnitude 5.0 Richter scale tectonic
earthquake on Tuesday, with residents in Amlapura, Karangasem
regency and parts of Klungkung regency saying the rumbling went
on for about three minutes.

According to an official at the Denpasar Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency (BMG), Nyoman Sulastra, "the epicenter of the
quake was located about 40 kilometers northeast of Amlapura".

The epicenter was reportedly located in the Lombok strait,
about 16 km undersea. Residents in the two areas claimed they had
felt the tremors four times.

The intensity of the series of aftershocks recorded by the
seismograph varied between 2 to 3 magnitude on the Richter Scale.

"No casualties or material losses were reported, but people
were overcome by panic. At the Karangasem police station, for
instance, people were seen fleeing from building," said Bali
police spokesman Sr. Comr. A.S. Reniban.

The quake was not noticed in the capital, Denpasar, which is
about 40 km from Klungkung.

Some local residents said they feared that Mount Agung could
erupt, but according to the BMG, the tremors that were felt for
several minutes were due to the movement of the Indo-Australia
tectonic plates depressing the Euro-Asia plate, and so did not
affect Mount Agung.

The plate which runs parallel to the western coast of Sumatra,
and continues down along the western edge of the Indonesian
archipelago, is said to be shifting each day in varying degrees,
but is classified as "very inert" as the movement is about seven
to 12 millimeters annually.

"The tectonic plate movement means the southern part of Java,
Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara will remain prone
to earthquakes," said Sulastra.

The BMG's seismograph located in Kuta, records six to 10
tremors per day, generally below magnitude 4, with a depth of
more than 80 km under the sea.

Due to the depth of the epicenter, only weak vibrations were
felt on the surface usually.

Karangasem regency was previously hit by a 6.1-magnitude quake
in January, 2004, destroying over 4,000 homes.

"We have determined that the area is an active fault area
where a displacement can occur anytime," said Sulastra.

He declined to predict the other areas where earthquakes might
occur due to the agency's lack of ability, and
only said that the area had been established as an active fault
area.