Quake measuring 5.72 on Richter Scale jolts Ambon
Quake measuring 5.72 on Richter Scale jolts Ambon
AMBON, Maluku (JP): A strong earthquake jolted Ambon city on
Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or
casualties, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said.
"The quake was 5.72 on the Richter Scale and hit Ambon at 2:52
p.m. local time," BMG spokesman Waan Tarmin said in a report on
Monday.
The epicenter was about 100 kilometers beneath the Banda Sea,
located about six kilometers west of Ambon and a number of
aftershocks were felt, he said.
A second quake took place hours later around 8:30 p.m. local
time.
Local residents said the temblor created panic in the town.
"In the afternoon, there were two aftershocks within a space
of four minutes.
"The defense posts built near the military sector headquarters
on Jl. A.Y. Patty collapsed due to the strength of the quake. But
luckily nobody was injured," officer Akmil Darmawi of the Ambon
Security Sector said minutes after the tremor took place.
Several houses sustained cracks in their walls while afternoon
school was called off and the students told to go home early.
"We are afraid as most of the buildings here are in a poor
condition as the result of over two years of disturbances.
"Many structures have been razed by fire or parts of them
blasted by bombs or mortars. They could collapse anytime due to
an earthquake," a local resident said.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation, is the
scene of frequent seismic upheavals.
The quake-prone province of Bengkulu was also shaken by three
medium temblors over the weekend with magnitudes of between 5.0
and 5.5 on the Richter scale, but there were no immediate reports
of casualties or damage, BMG officials said Monday.
A massive tremor measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck
Bengkulu in June of last year, killing at least 94 people and
injuring thousands.
Back in Maluku, after weeks of fragile calm the sound of
gunfire and explosions again reverberated around the streets of
the capital Ambon on Sunday as three bombs exploded near the
Wijaya II Hotel in the restive no-man's-land between Batu Merah
and Mardika at around 5 p.m. local time.
The bombs appeared to be aimed at two security posts in the
area occupied respectively by Joint Battalion personnel and East
Java's 521/Brawijaya infantry battalion. Shots were also fired
resulting in damage to several cars.
"The shots and the three bombs were aimed at the security
posts located at the Wijaya II Hotel and the one near the Union
building. The duty officers at the posts returned fire," chief of
Ambon Sector/I Col. Ngakan Gede Sugiartha told The Jakarta Post
by phone from Ambon.
It turned out later that the shots and explosions were the
work of a police officer named Mosad who was celebrating his
wedding in the predominantly-Muslim Batu Merah area, he said.
"We don't mind people celebrating events and the firing off of
salvos is OK in normal situations, but what he did was crazy. Why
the heck did he have to use bombs to celebrate a wedding party?"
he asked.
Secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) Malik
Selang separately expressed his regret over the incident.
Malik also said that in Friday's dispute in Leihitu between
local Muslims, a man named Nyon Nunlehu died at the Al Fatah
Hospital of severe bleeding after being stabbed.
Relatives of the dead man from Hitu were enraged by the death
and took revenge by burning down Wanath hamlet with its more than
40 houses. (edt/49)