6.4 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia

Saturday, October 17, 2009

A strong, 6.4 magnitude earthquake stuck Indonesia on Friday, even as recovery efforts continued from the devastating tremors that hit there last month.

The earthquake caused some buildings to sway in the country’s capital, Jakarta; however, there were no reports of injuries. According to officials, the earthquake’s epicentre was in in the Sunda Strait, off the western coast of the island of Java.

The earthquake wasn’t powerful enough to generate a tsunami, according to a Meteorology and Geophysics Agency official, Suhardjono.

On September 30, a powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Indonesia, causing landslides, destroying buildings, and killing over a thousand people. Cleanup and recovery efforts for that quake are still ongoing. Tremors frequently strike Indonesia and neighbouring vicinities, as it is positioned on an arc of fault lines.