October 16, 2009 22:06 PM

Jakarta Shakes Due To 6.4-Magnitude Earthquake Off West Java

JAKARTA, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Thousands of office workers in high-rise buildings panicked and ran out of the buildings when a tremor hit Jakarta at 4.52pm (local time) following a 6.4-magnitude earthquake off Banten, West Java, on Friday.

People who are still traumatised by recent news of the possibility of a strong earthquake of up to 8.8 on the Richter scale occurring, after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit West Sumatra on Sept 30, are even more worried now.

"I rushed down the stairs after I saw the cupboard in my office fall and I too fell on the floor," said Abrizal who gathered with hundreds of other office workers in front of Wisma Antara, here.

Several office workers also reported to have fallen, especially those on the fifth floor and above, before picking themselves up and running out of the buildings for their safety.

Meanwhile, all 650 Malaysian students in several universities here are safe from the tremor. They too ran out of houses and other buildings when they felt the tremor.

The Malaysian Students Department director in Indonesia, Datuk Dr Junaidi Abu Bakar, told Bernama that the Malaysian embassy had contacted the student leaders and was informed that all the students were safe.

According to the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, the earthquake struck approximately 42km west of Ujong Kulon, off Java Island and 10km under the seabed.

Although the agency verified that there was no tsunami threat, today's quake would probably be followed by other quakes and tremors as it was not linked to the 7.9-magnituide earthquake that hit West Sumatra on Sept 30.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the Malaysian Meteorology Department said a strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale had hit the Sunda Straits at 5.52pm today.

In a statement, it said the earthquake's epicentre was 176km southwest of Bandar Lampung, Indonesia and 942km southeast of Johor Baharu.

There was no tsunami threat to Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA

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