Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake Shakes West Nias, BMKG Attributes It to Megathrust Activity

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook the West Nias region of North Sumatra. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) stated the tectonic earthquake was caused by megathrust activity.

“Taking into account the location of the epicentre and the depth of the hypocentre, the earthquake that occurred is a shallow earthquake due to Megathrust activity,” said Hendro Nugroho, Head of the Region I Centre for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics, as reported by Antara on Thursday.

Based on reports from the public, the earthquake was felt in the West Nias area with an intensity scale of II-III MMI, meaning the vibrations were clearly felt inside houses as if a truck were passing by. BMKG reported that monitoring results showed no aftershocks had occurred. Additionally, no reports of building damage resulting from the earthquake have been received.

The earthquake occurred in West Nias, North Sumatra, on Wednesday at 20:08 WIB. The epicentre was located at coordinates 1.03° North latitude and 96.54° East longitude, 58 km west of West Nias, at a depth of 4 km.