W. Sumatra quake damages buildings, but no fatalities
W. Sumatra quake damages buildings, but no fatalities
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A powerful earthquake jolted several parts of West Sumatra province on Friday, damaging a number of structures, officials said.
No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.
The quake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, left minor and major cracks in the walls of a number of buildings in the affected areas and caused panic among local residents who fled their homes, Antara reported.
The tremor struck at 8:55 a.m. for only three to five minutes and was centered in the Mentawai Strait, about 90 kilometers west of Padang Panjang, local seismologist Bayu Pranata was quoted as saying.
Bayu said the quake was felt most strongly in Padang, Pariaman and South Pesisir, where several concrete houses suffered slight damages.
"We have received reports that houses in the border area between Padang and South Pesisir have cracked from the tremor," he said.
Heru, an official at the local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (GMT), confirmed that buildings in Padang had cracked from the jolt, which "lasted for about five minutes", he told AFP from Padangpanjang.
On Feb. 22, Padang was shaken by a quake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, also centered in the Mentawai Strait.
Another earthquake hit the province on Feb. 16 and left five people dead and six injured, while it damaged 70 houses in Tanah Datar regency and caused a power blackout for several hours.
Two weeks earlier on Feb. 6, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked the sparsely populated area of Nabire in Papua province, killing at least 37 people and injuring hundreds of others.
Local residents lived in makeshift tents following the huge tremor, which destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings, including schools, churches, mosques and government offices. Most of those who died were killed by collapsed buildings.
The government declared Nabire a disaster area, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his condolences to the victims and promised humanitarian assistance.
In his message, Annan called on the international community to assist the government in providing relief aid to victims.
On Feb. 2, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the two tourist islands of Bali and Lombok, injuring dozens of people and damaging hundreds of buildings. An elderly man reportedly died of a heart attack, apparently triggered by the shock of the strong tremor in Lombok.
Another quake struck Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), damaging several houses and public facilities. No casualties or injuries were reported after the quake, which measured 5.58 on the Richter scale.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands and islets, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire.