A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island early Friday, destroying more than 100 houses but not reported to cause any injuries or deaths.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was felt at 2:52 a.m. local time (1952 GMT Thursday) and had its epicenter in the vicinity of Bengkulu province at a depth of 68 kilometers. The Indonesian meteorological agency detected a slightly higher magnitude of 6.0 and a deeper epicenter at 84 kilometers. Authorities stated that there was no threat of tsunami.
Structural Damage in Bengkulu
The earthquake caused extensive structural damage in the city of Bengkulu, said Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s national disaster agency (BNPB). “In the city of Bengkulu, 140 homes were damaged (by the earthquake), eight of which collapsed, or (they) cannot be repaired,” he told a Friday press briefing. Besides damage to homes, six public buildings were also affected. In the adjacent Central Bengkulu district, two houses experienced minor structural damage.
No Reported Fatalities
Luckily, there were no reported fatalities or severe injuries as of Friday morning. The authorities are still evaluating the extent of the damage as part of the emergency response.
Indonesia is situated in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a highly seismic area where several tectonic plates converge. The archipelago is thus especially vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Historical events put the risks in perspective: a 6.2 quake in Sulawesi in 2021 killed over 100, and a devastating 7.5 earthquake and tsunami in Palu in 2018 killed over 2,200. The 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami, one of the deadliest to date, killed over 170,000 in Indonesia alone.
