A strong earthquake killed at least eight people, injured 23 others and damaged more than 300 buildings in Java, Indonesia’s main island, and was also felt in Bali, authorities said Saturday. No tsunami warnings have been issued.
The United States Geological Institute said the 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the island’s south coast at 2:00 p.m. local time (07:00 GMT). It had its epicenter 45 kilometers (28 mi) south of the city of Sumberpucung, in the Malang District, in East Java Province, at a depth of 82 kilometers (51 mi).
Rahmat Triyono, director of the Earthquake and Tsunami Center in Indonesia, said in a statement that the earthquake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged the population to move away from slopes because of the possibility of rock walls.
It was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia this week, after Cyclone Seroja killed at least 174 people and left 48 missing. Some victims were buried in mud avalanches or solidified lava from a November volcanic eruption, while others were washed away by flash floods. Thousands of houses have been damaged
Saturday’s earthquake triggered a rock slide that killed a woman on a motorcycle and seriously injured her husband in Lumajang district, Raditya Jati, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Agency, said.
The spokesman added that dozens of homes across the district had been damaged and rescue workers recovered two bodies from the rubble in Kali Uling village. Authorities also confirmed the deaths of two people in an area near Lumajang and Malang districts, while one person was found dead under the rubble in Malang.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area along the ocean’s edge prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people, injured about 6,500 and evicted more than 92,000 people after shaking Mamuju and Majene districts in eastern Sulawesi province.