Quake leaves hundreds homeless on three islands

SURABAYA (JP): Earthquakes hit Java, West Nusa Tenggara and Bali on Monday night and early Tuesday, killing one person and destroying hundreds of homes.

The first quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, occurred on Monday at 8:34 p.m. and was felt mainly in East Java.

Residents in Central Java, Sumbawa and Bali felt the tremor as well, with some people in Bali reportedly panicking, according to Antara.

Bali's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency reported that the epicenter of the quake was believed to be located in the Indian Ocean at a depth of 177 kilometers, some 90 kilometers south of Blitar, East Java.

A meteorologist said a second quake on Tuesday was measured at 5.9 on the Richter scale at 3:28 a.m. He put the epicenter near the Talaud islands, about 310 km northeast of Manado, North Sulawesi. Residents in Talaud said they felt the tremor but reported no damage.

On Tuesday, natural disaster task force provincial officials set up a 24-hour watch center in the East Java capital, Surabaya, at the Grahadi governor's office building to anticipate further tremors.

The single victim of the quakes, a 40-year-old woman named Mutammimah, died on Monday when hit by falling debris in the village of Wonokerto in Bantur district, 45 km south of Malang.

Local residents reported seven houses had collapsed, while dozens were left severely damaged. A mosque, a prayer house and an elementary school also sustained minor damage.

In Malang 142 homes were reportedly damaged. This included those in the Sumbermanjing Wetan district where 20 homes were severely damaged, while another eight homes and a traditional Moslem boarding house or pesantren were also damaged in Dampit district, according to officials in Surabaya.

Governor Imam Utomo has ordered basic needs and medical supplies sent to the affected areas.

In Lumajang regency, at least 50 homes were severely damaged in Senduro and Pronojiwo districts. Samirun, a 55-year-old resident of Burno village in Senduro, was severely injured. The tremor was also felt in South Blitar and Pacitan, where roofs of dozens of homes were damaged.

At least one woman, Karmi, 70, a resident of Wonotirto district in Blitar, was rushed to the hospital after being hit by falling debris from a roof. Fifteen homes collapsed in Ngajum district at the foot of Mt. Kawi.

In Trenggalek regency, four houses collapsed and dozens were damaged, with landslides reported to have taken place along roads and hills. Part of the road connecting Dongko and Panggul districts sank 30 centimeters.

Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Imam Soepardi said the southern Malang districts of Bantur, Sumbermanjing Wetan and Tirtojudo were the worst hit by the quakes.

He said the administration had requested emergency funds from the central government.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, a quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale was felt on Monday night lasting 10 seconds. No casualties were reported. Mataram was also hit by a quake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale in mid July.

In the early hours of Sept. 21, a quake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale jolted Jakarta. No casualties were reported and damage to buildings was minimal during the 90-second predawn tremor. The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency had put the quake's epicenter at 60 km beneath the beach resort area of Pelabuhan Ratu in West Java, about 150 km south of Jakarta.

In Bandung, an official of the geology research division of the directorate general of mineral resources, Engkon Kertapati, urged people to take more preventive measures against earthquakes. A plate boundary and subduction zone lie under the Indian Ocean south of Java, making 80 percent of the archipelago vulnerable to tremors.

The recent earthquakes, judging from their epicenters, were caused by a shift in the Indo-Australia plate colliding with the Eurasia plate in the Indian ocean seabed, Engkon said.

In March last year, an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale sent thousands of Jakartans fleeing out of high rise buildings, malls and homes.

More potentially dangerous earthquakes, Engkon said, could occur due to movements in other great fault areas: the Sumatra Fault running along that island, the Palu-Koro Fault passing Palu in Central Sulawesi and the Digul Fault in Irian Jaya.

"We should have more geological research in these areas," Engkon said. (nur/43/anr)