Over 70 Homes Damaged As 5.7 Quake Jolts East Java, Tremor Felt As Far As Bali

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

SURABAYA, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Indonesia’s East Java province on Thursday, damaging at least 74 homes, six public facilities and injuring one person, the disaster agency said.

“The quake was felt strongly in Banyuwangi and Situbondo and also reached Jembrana in Bali province,” National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement on Friday.

He said local disaster agencies were continuing to assess the full extent of the damage, and that so far there had been no reports of fatalities or residents displaced by the earthquake.

Situbondo reported the heaviest toll with 60 homes damaged along with a mosque, two government offices and a business premises, while nine homes and a mosque were affected in Banyuwangi.

Elsewhere in East Java, three homes were damaged in Bondowoso, while Jember reported one destroyed home and one person with minor injuries.

In Bali’s Jembrana district, a home and a health centre also sustained minor damage, Abdul Muhari added.

The quake struck at 4.04 pm local time on Thursday, with its epicentre located offshore, 46 kilometres north-east of Banyuwangi and 54 kilometres south-east of Situbondo, at a depth of 12 kilometres.

According to BNPB, the tremor was felt strongly for two to three seconds in Banyuwangi and Situbondo, prompting many residents to panic and rush outdoors.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast zone of tectonic activity where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur frequently.

-- BERNAMA