Natural Disasters in Indonesia: Strong Earthquake Rocks Jakarta
The capital city of Jakarta was rocked by a strong earthquake on Tuesday (23/01) around 13:45 pm local time with its epicenter in the Indian Ocean, about 125 kilometers to the southwest of Jakarta. The quake did not go unnoticed in Jakarta. Many office towers, residential towers and hospitals were evacuated due to concerns about aftershocks, while people fled into the streets in panic.
The US Geological Survey said it was 6.0-magnitude earthquake, occurring at a depth of 43 kilometers offshore the western part of Java island. There are no reports of casualties or serious damage (yet). There was also no threat of a tsunami.
Still, it was a scary happening with buildings shaking heavily for about 30 seconds.
Indonesia's Metereology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said it was a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of West Java, with its epicenter in the Indian Ocean, 81 kilometers southwest of Lebak (Banten), at a depth of ten kilometers.
Due to the movements of major tectonic plates and volcanic activity in the region, Indonesia is regularly hit by earthquakes. In December 2017 a 6.5-magnitude earthquake caused three deaths on Java.
According to research conducted by the World Bank, natural disasters - including earthquakes - cost Indonesia about 0.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on an annual basis. In a 2015 report on disaster risk management prepared by the Indonesian government it was mentioned that a major earthquake, occurring once every 250 years, could cause losses in excess of USD $30 billion, or 3 percent of GDP.
Read more: Natural Disasters in Indonesia - Overview & Analysis
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I felt it in my building.... was very scary... first time I felt a big earthquake after living in Indonesia for almost five years.
I felt it too, whole office tower was evacuated