5.9-Magnitude Quake Hits Off West Sumba, Tremors Felt Across Eastern Indonesia

By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Will

JAKARTA, May 5 (Bernama) -- A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck waters off West Sumba in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday afternoon, with tremors felt across parts of East and West Nusa Tenggara as well as Bali.

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Acting Director of Earthquakes and Tsunami, Rahmat Triyono, said the quake occurred at 1.44 pm local time and was centred at sea about 49 kilometres southwest of Wanokaka in West Sumba Regency in East Nusa Tenggara, at a depth of 26 kilometres.

“Based on the location of the epicentre and the depth of the hypocentre, the earthquake is a shallow earthquake,” he said in a statement, on Tuesday.

Rahmat said the quake was felt at moderate intensity in several areas of Sumba, including Waingapu, Tambolaka, Waibakul and Waikabubak, registering level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, indicating it was widely felt indoors during the day.

He said weaker tremors were also reported in parts of West Nusa Tenggara, including Bima and Sumbawa, where shaking reached level III MMI.

Level III on the MMI indicates a tremor typically felt clearly indoors, similar to the vibration of a passing truck.

A Level II MMI was also reported in Denpasar, Bali.

He said no potential tsunami risk is detected.

Rahmat added that as of 2.10 pm local time, monitoring had not detected any aftershocks.

-- BERNAMA