A strong earthquake killed at least eight people, injured another 23 and damaged more than 300 buildings on Java, Indonesia’s main island, and was also felt in Bali, authorities said on Saturday. No tsunami alerts were issued.
The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the island’s south coast at 2:00 a.m. local time (7,700 GMT). It had its epicenter 45 kilometers south of the city of Sumberpucung in Malang District, East Java Province, at a depth of 82 kilometers (51 miles).
Rahmat Triyono, director of the earthquake and tsunami center in Indonesia, said in a statement that the earthquake does not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Even so, he urged the population to move away from the 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 avalanches of mud or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November, while others were washed away by flash floods. Thousands of houses were damaged
Saturday’s quake caused a landslide that killed a woman 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 houses were damaged throughout the district, and rescuers recovered two bodies from the rubble of Kali Uling village. Authorities also confirmed the death of two people in an area near Lumajang and Malang districts, while one person was found dead under rubble in Malang.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area along the edge of the ocean prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people, injured about 6,500 and evacuated more than 92,000 after shaking Mamuju and Majene districts in eastern Sulawesi province.