Post by Paddy by Grace on Sept 2, 2008 1:59:56 GMT -7
www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200808070922.htm
JAKARTA (AP): A shallow earthquake rattled Indonesia's eastern Sumbawa island early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing damage and sending frightened residents running from their homes.
The magnitude 5.7 quake struck at 06:41 a.m. local time (2241 GMT) just off the coast of Sumbawa island, about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of the capital, Jakarta, the USGS said. It had a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
The jolt, which the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency put at a stronger 6.6, did not trigger a tsunami, but MetroTV reported that several buildings and a school were badly damaged and people fled their homes fearing they would collapse.
``Several houses collapsed near the beach, a shop was also damaged near the town of Sumbawa,'' spokesman Taufik Gunawan told MetroTV.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, said Suhardjono, an agency official who goes by a single name.
Indonesia, which straddles a series of active fault lines, is prone to seismic and volcanic activity. A giant earthquake along the same coast spawned the large tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a number of countries in December 2004.
JAKARTA (AP): A shallow earthquake rattled Indonesia's eastern Sumbawa island early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing damage and sending frightened residents running from their homes.
The magnitude 5.7 quake struck at 06:41 a.m. local time (2241 GMT) just off the coast of Sumbawa island, about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of the capital, Jakarta, the USGS said. It had a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
The jolt, which the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency put at a stronger 6.6, did not trigger a tsunami, but MetroTV reported that several buildings and a school were badly damaged and people fled their homes fearing they would collapse.
``Several houses collapsed near the beach, a shop was also damaged near the town of Sumbawa,'' spokesman Taufik Gunawan told MetroTV.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, said Suhardjono, an agency official who goes by a single name.
Indonesia, which straddles a series of active fault lines, is prone to seismic and volcanic activity. A giant earthquake along the same coast spawned the large tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a number of countries in December 2004.