HongKong

Indonesia earthquake: Country ‘on alert’ after powerful 6.2-magnitude quake felt as far away as Singapore



An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Friday morning, with tremors being felt in neighbouring countries including Malaysia and Singapore.

Tremors from the earthquake were also strongly felt in nearby cities of Padang in West Sumatra province and in Pekanbaru in Riau Province.

According to the country’s geophysics agency BMKG, the quake occurred on land at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles).

“We continue to monitor and advise people to remain on alert,” said Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of BMKG, to MetroTV.

“Because this is on land, and the scale is above 6, we are concerned that it could cause some damage.”

The authorities nonetheless said that there was no risk of a tsunami, or immediate reports of major damage.

Residents in Pasaman Barat, about 17 km from the epicentre, reported that evacuations had to be carried out.

One witness told MetroTV that patients in a hospital were evacuated from the building, reported Reuters.

Due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is prone to high seismic activity.

In January the country’s Java island was struck by a powerful 6.-magnitude earthquake.

And in December an undersea earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Flores Island, prompting the country’s monitoring agency to issue a tsunami warning, which was later called off.



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