Tuesday, 5th November 2024

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake rocks Indonesia

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 rocked south of the Indonesian town of Raba, off the central island of Sumbawa

Tuesday, 22nd January 2019

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 rocked south of the Indonesian town of Raba, off the central island of Sumbawa, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the second quake to hit the area on Tuesday.

The earthquake hit at a depth of 36 km (22 miles), at a distance of about 230 km (143 miles) south of Raba in the east of the island, which forms part of West Nusa Tenggara province.

There was no immediate tsunami warning or reports of damage or casualties from the quake.

It was followed by a weaker quake in the same area with an initial reading of 5.2 magnitude, according to Indonesia's disaster agency.

Disaster-prone Indonesia sits on the geologically active so-called Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

The country suffered its deadliest year in more than a decade in 2018, when a series of quakes and tsunamis killed thousands.

The tsunami was Indonesia's third major natural disaster in six months, following a series of powerful earthquakes on the island of Lombok in July and August and a quake-tsunami in September that killed around 2,200 people in Palu on Sulawesi island, with thousands more missing and presumed dead.