JAKARTA, Indonesia ( Associated Press) – A powerful earthquake struck parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Saturday, two weeks after another earthquake of similar magnitude killed hundreds.
The US Geological Survey said the 5.7-magnitude quake had its epicenter 18 kilometers (11 mi) southeast of Banjar, a city between West Java and Central Java provinces, and occurred at a depth of 112 kilometers (70 mi).
The head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Ruharyanto, who would use only one name, said a resident of Selawi village in West Java’s Garut district was injured and at least four houses and a school were damaged. He said that the officials are still gathering information about the damage.
On 21 November, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Cianjur in West Java, killing at least 331 people and injuring nearly 600. It was the deadliest earthquake in Indonesia since the 2018 earthquake and tsunami on the island of Sulawesi, which killed some 4,340 people. The 2018 earthquake also occurred at a depth of less than 10 kilometers (6.2 mi).
District chief Rudi Gunawan said in a television interview that many villagers in Garut still remember with horror the devastation in Cianjur, where the landslide occurred.
“The earthquake in the midst of monsoon rains has caused great panic among the people,” he said. He said his government has asked hospitals, health centers and ambulances to be ready to treat potential victims.
Gunaywan said that except for the injured person, no other casualties were reported in 42 villages of Garut, the district closest to the epicenter. Several homes sustained minor damage.
Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, ruled out the threat of a tsunami, though she warned of possible aftershocks.
