Powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes off Indonesian island of Sumatra
- The quake hit about 217 kilometres south-southwest of the city of Bengkulu
- It struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres at 7:52 pm local time (1252 GMT)
- It comes weeks after another powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing 84 people, injuring 932, and impacting over 40,000
- There was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage of today’s quake
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage.
The strong offshore quake hit about 217 kilometres south-southwest of the city of Bengkulu at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres at 7:52 pm local time (1252 GMT).
Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deep ones.
The quake was at a depth of 18.64 miles (30 kilometres), EMSC said, and struck roughly 60 miles south of the city of Bengkulu, which is home to more than 300,000 people. Pictured: A map showing the location of Wednesday’s quake
It comes weeks after another powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing 84 people and injuring 932.
A further 40,000 people were directly affected by the earthquake on January 15.
Eight of the victims died when Mitra Manakarra Hospital in Mamuju partially collapsed, with 60 people being evacuated to safety in time.
Some sought refuge in the mountains, while others rushed to cramped evacuation centres, witnesses said.
The epicentre of last month’s quake was 3.73 miles northeast of Majene city at a depth of 6 miles. Majene has a population of around 63,000.
In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.
A devastating 9.1-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Sumatra in 2004, triggering a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia – one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.