A strong earthquake killed at least eight people, injured 23 and caused damage to more than 300 buildings in Java, Indonesia’s main island, and also felt in Bali, authorities said on Saturday. No tsunami alerts were issued.
The U.S. Geological Survey has noted that the magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook the island’s south coast at 2:00 pm local time (0700 GMT). It had its epicenter 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the city of Sumberpucung in Malang District, East Java Province, at a depth of 82 kilometers (51 miles).
Rahmat Triyono, director of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami center, said in a statement that the quake had no potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged the population to stay away from slopes due to the possibility of rock falls.
It was the second deadliest disaster to hit Indonesia this week, after Cyclone Seroja killed at least 174 people and left 48 missing. Some victims were buried in mudslides or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption recorded in November, while others were swept away by sudden flooding. Thousands of homes were damaged
Saturday’s quake caused a rockfall that killed a woman traveling on a motorcycle and seriously injured her husband in Lumajang district, said Raditya Jati, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Agency.
The spokesman added that dozens of homes were damaged throughout the district and rescuers had recovered two bodies from among the rubble in the Kali Uling village. Authorities also confirmed the death of two people in an area near Lumajang and Malang neighborhoods, while one person was found dead under the rubble in Malang.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is located along the Pacific Fire Belt, an area along the fringe of the ocean prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake claimed the lives of at least 105 people, injured about 6,500 and caused the evacuation of more than 92,000 after rocking the Mamuju and Majene districts in the province of Eastern Sulawesi.