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| An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Thursday, the US geological survey said. (Image courtesy of USGC) |
A powerful
earthquake jolted Indonesia’s popular resort island of Bali on Thursday,
causing widespread panic and injuring at least 50 people, many with broken
bones and head wounds.
The US
Geological Survey said the 6.0-magnitude quake was centered 100 kilometers
southwest of the island. It hit 60 kilometers beneath the ocean floor.
Indonesia’s
Metrology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BKMG) said the earthquake had a
6.8 magnitude and was 10 kilometers deep, 143 kilometers southwest of Nusa Dua.
The
Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no current tsunami
warning in effect.
Although
not strong enough to trigger a tsunami, the quake was felt on neighboring Java
and Lombok islands, hundreds of kilometers away.
Candy
Juliani, a public relations officer for the Sanur Beach Hotel, said terrified
guests fled the building.
“We have
special emergency routes for this type of situation, but everyone was so
scared, they just ignored them,” Juliani said.
At least 50
people were hurt, many with cuts, broken bones and head wounds, said Wayan
Sudanti, a hospital spokesman.
Three were
in critical condition.
Strong
shaking was felt for several minutes in the main tourist district of Kuta, said
Endro Tjahjono from the Bali office of Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics
Agency.
“There was
panic, everyone ran out of the buildings. When we returned to our office
building, we saw some cracks on the wall and plaster had come off the walls,”
he said.
Schools,
office buildings and hospitals were evacuated.
A number of
buildings suffered minor damage.
Caroline
Mercier, a 40-year-old tourist in the island’s cultural centre of Ubud, said
she was used to feeling quakes in California, but never like this one.
“It started
at my feet and went all though my heart and head -- it made me nauseous. My
first reaction was to get out of the house. I was very confused when the roof
started shaking,” she said.
Novotel
Bali Benoa, one of the many resorts in the luxury southern beach area of Nusa
Dua, evacuated its guests as the hotel shook for a minute.
“The funny
thing is that the foreign guests who were sitting in the lobby did not feel the
shaking. They started running when hearing people say ‘there’s an earthquake’
while running down the lobby,” hotel worker Ariyanti said.
Endro
Tjahjono, head of information at Bali’s meteorology agency, said there was no
tsunami potential and no reports of aftershocks.
Cracks
appeared in the walls and glass lobby windows of his office in the southern
town of Kuta, and some top floor ceilings fell off, he said.
The quake
was measured at 61.3 kilometers deep, and struck some 130 kilometers
south-southwest of Bali’s capital Denpasar, the US seismologists said.
“I’m still
shaking,” said Stuart McDonald, an Australian living in Bali.
“There’s no
serious damage but stuff fell off walls,” he said. “It was very loud.”
Indonesia’s
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency measured the undersea quake at 6.8-magnitude
and put the quake’s depth at just 10 kilometers but said it was unlikely to
cause a tsunami.
Indonesia
sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where the meeting of continental plates
causes high seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.
The BKMG
said there was no risk of a tsunami.
AFP, JG
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