A strong, shallow undersea earthquake struck east of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Friday, causing some damage but no casualties reported at this time.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and occurred at a depth of 8.5 kilometers (5.2 miles) north of Pasiran, East Java province.
Two smaller earthquakes occurred in the same area early Friday and were also felt in the nearest city of Surabaya, with buildings shaking for several seconds in the capital Jakarta after a third quake.
Authorities said houses and village offices were destroyed in the Tuban district.
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Patients evacuate to emergency tents after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake occurred in Sumedang, West Java on January 1, 2024. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a strong undersea earthquake occurred east of the main island of Java, Indonesia, on March 22, 2024. Immediate casualties were reported. (Timur Matahari/AFP via Getty Images)
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency warned that there was no risk of a tsunami, but that aftershocks were possible.
Indonesia, a seismically active archipelago with a population of 270 million people, is prone to seismic upheavals due to its location on a major geological fault known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.
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Last year, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck the city of Cianjur in West Java province, killing about 600 people. It was the worst death toll in Indonesia since 2018, when an earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi killed more than 4,300 people.
In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in 12 countries.
