World

Strong earthquakes rattle Indonesia and Japan, locals told to brace for aftershocks

08:42 am on 28 April 2024

Residents of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, evacuated their buildings as the quake hit. File photo. Photo: AFP/Adek Berry

Two strong earthquakes have rocked parts of Asia, with high-rises swaying for about a minute, according to international media.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia's main island, Java, on Saturday (local time), Reuters said.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences reported the quake was at a depth of 65km. It was centred south of Java, in the Indian Ocean.

According to ABC News in the United States, high-rises in the capital, Jakarta, swayed for about a minute and homes in Bandung, Depok, Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi shook strongly.

Many locals were forced to evacuate their buildings amid the shaking.

"I screamed to my wife and kids to tell them to get out of the house," Bandung resident Iman Krisnawan told the French news agency AFP.

There were no reports of injuries, but residents were warned to prepare for aftershocks.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Ring of Fire, an arc of intersecting tectonic plates that stretches across the Asia-Pacific region.

In November 2022, hundreds of people died after a 5.6-magnitude quake struck West Java at a depth of just 11km.

In September 2018, more than 4,000 people died on Sulawesi Island after a 7-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami.

Meanwhile, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's remote Bonin Islands late on Saturday night.

Reuters reported the quake had been registered by the United States Geological Survey as striking 503km below the sea floor.

No tsunami warning was issued.

The Bonin Islands, about 1000km south of Tokyo, were a very seismically active area, Reuters said.