Earthquake of Magnitude 6.2 Strikes Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta: An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on the Richter Scale struck Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, said National Center for Seismology. 

The location of the earthquake was 143 km SE of Jakarta, Indonesia. Meanwhile, the depth was 70 km. 

So far, no casualties have been reported. 

More details are awaited.  

Why Indonesia Is Prone to Earthquakes? 

On Saturday, the Southeast Asian archipelago nation is reeled under yet another powerful earthquake. The area stretches some 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) and is where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

Indonesia susceptible to earthquakes because its on the Ring of Fire a curve of volcanoes and fault lines in the gorge of the Pacific Ocean.

The Island nation is one of the most seismically active zones on planet. 

Plate tectonics and the Ring of Fire are the major causes why Indonesia has numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The earth below them is volatile and transient. 

Majority of Indonesia’s earthquakes are insignificant and cause little to no damage. But there have also been fatal earthquakes.

In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.

A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries, majority of them in Indonesia.

An earthquake on the main Indonesian island of Java in January 2022 has claimed live of scores of people and injured hundreds. 

Recently, on June 30, 2023, a strong undersea earthquake jolted Indonesia's densely populated main island of Java. 

The earthquake killed a 67-year-old woman in Bantul died when she fell while fleeing in panic and at least two other residents were injured.

The US Geological Survey stated that the earthquake was of magnitude 5.8 quake and was centered 84 km southwest of Bambanglipuro, a village in Bantul regency of the special province of Yogyakarta. It occurred at a depth of 86 km. (With inputs from AP)