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)