Quake hits Jakarta, West Java, ruins houses

Quake hits Jakarta, West Java, ruins houses

JAKARTA (JP): An earthquake hit Jakarta and some areas in West
Java on Wednesday, destroying dozens of buildings, mostly
residents' houses, in Sukabumi and Bogor.

No fatalities were reported, but dozens of workers in
factories in Kedung Halang and Gunung Putri, Bogor were
reportedly injured in a stampede when people rushed out of their
workplaces as the tremors took place.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta announced
hours after the quake hit Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor and Sukabumi at
8:10 a.m., that its magnitude was 5.1 on the Richter scale.

The epicenter of the tectonic quake was in the area of
Sukabumi, some 100 kilometers south of Jakarta, Waan Tarmin,
spokesman for the Agency said.

A staff member at the Quake Center Office at the Agency,
Riskita said that all 33 houses and one hospital destroyed by the
quake were in the village of Cibadak, Sukabumi.

Twelve houses in Cibadak were totally ravaged by the tremors,
while at least 20 other buildings, including a state hospital,
were cracked.

In the village of Kadudampit in Cisaat district, also in
Sukabumi, tens of residents' houses were partially damaged, while
almost 200 houses in Cijeruk village, Bogor were seriously
damaged. "Six people were hurt," Ade Yana Mulyana, an employee at
the Cijeruk district office said.

The quake did not disrupt the activities of people in Jakarta,
however.

In Bandung, people rushed out of their houses and offices as
soon as they felt the quake at 8:10 a.m.. Many shops turned on
their alarms ordering people to leave the buildings.

The first tremor was recorded at the quake monitoring station
in Lembang, North Bandung, followed by the other monitoring
stations in Soreang, Ciparay, Padalarang and Bandung.

In Jakarta many people were not aware of the tremor which
lasted some 20 seconds.

Three buildings in Bandung, a resident's house in Sukajadi,
the State Administration (LAN) building on Jl. Cimandiri, and the
Makro wholesale building on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta, were slightly
damaged by the tremors.

Tectonic

Riskita said that Wednesday's tremors were the product of a
tectonic quake, caused by a shift in the Indian-Australian
tectonic plates. "They move by seven centimeters to the north
annually," she said.

Asked if the tremors were the signal of a bigger quake
(especially for Jakarta and West Java), she replied that
technically earthquakes could not be predicted. "There are
factors that cause quakes. The probability is 50:50."

The head of the quake laboratory at the Bandung Institute of
Technology, Nanang T. Puspito said he was worried about possible
big aftershocks.

"Theoretically, small tremors which become medium tremors,
like those in Sukabumi, are usually early signs of stronger
quakes," Nanang said. "However, we have yet to thoroughly analyze
things, and each quake has its own characteristics."

Meanwhile, Engkon K. Kertapati, the head of the seismotectonic
division at the geological research and development center in
Bandung, said that the magnitude of Wednesday's quake was 6.06 on
the Richter scale.

"We maybe have a different method of reading the tremors," he
said referring to the announcement by the Agency of Meteorology
and Geophysics in Jakarta. Engkon said that strings of
aftershocks were very possible.

At least nine quakes hit Sukabumi this month, Engkon said,
adding that July 12th's tremor was the strongest. "Our records
indicate that since July 6 the magnitude tended to increase. On
July 6 alone there were three tremors with magnitudes of 2.13,
2.04 and 3.37 on the Richter scale.

"On July 8 there were two quakes with the magnitude of 4.21
and 5.05 on the Richter scale, while the biggest was today's
quake," he said in his office on Wednesday, adding that on June
22 quakes hit Sukabumi.

Both Riskita and Engkon said that strings of aftershocks were
possible. There is no single piece of equipment that can predict
an earthquake. The most important factor was the readiness of the
people living in areas along quake-lines to anticipate the
disaster, they said.

A strong quake, with a magnitude of six on the Richter scale,
jolted Jakarta and West Java on Dec. 21 last year. (21/25/sur)