April 04, 2011
Sukabumi, West Java. Officials at Sukabumi’s Disaster Management Office (BPBD) in West Java said they had not received any reports of damage or injuries following the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off Cilacap in the early hours of Monday.
The quake prompted authorities to briefly issue a tsunami warning that sent thousands of residents fleeing to higher ground.
“We haven’t received any reports so far,” the head of Sukabumi’s BPBD, Perry A. Furqon, said.
According to Perry, the quake was felt quite strongly in Sukabumi and its surrounding areas.
“We have been in close contact with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency as well as other local disaster management offices to stay alert for any possible aftershocks,” he said.
Following the tsunami warning, many in the town of Cilacap, closest to the quake’s epicenter, poured into the grand mosque. When word finally came that the threat of a big wave had passed, they erupted in cheers, embraced one another or fell to their knees in thanks.
“We were very scared after seeing what happened in Japan — and also Aceh, of course,” said Sukitno, a resident. “But God listened to our prayers. He spared us!”
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which hit just after 3 a.m., was centered 318 kilometers off southern Java and 24 kilometers beneath the ocean floor.
Both Indonesia and Japan are prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
A 2004 tsunami off Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations. Officials fear up to 25,000 may have died after last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Antara, AP
ma 4 apr 2011 - 4:30