A 6.0-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Indonesia's main Java island on Saturday. Video / AP
A strong earthquake has killed at least eight people, injured 23 others and damaged more than 300 buildings on Indonesia's main island of Java and was also felt on the tourist hotspot of Bali, officials have said. No tsunami warnings were posted.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island's southern coast at 2:00pm local time. It was centred 45km south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82km.
A police officer stands amid the rubble of buildings during a search for victims at a flood-affected village in Ile Ape on Lembata Island, Indonesia. Photo / AP
A local journalist films the damage to a class room at a school following the earthquake in Malang, East Java. Photo / AP
Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami centre, said in a statement the undersea tremblor did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.
This was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia this week, after Tropical Cyclone Seroja caused a severe downpour Sunday that killed at least 174 people and left 48 still missing. Some victims were buried in either mudslides or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November, while others were swept away by flash flooding. Thousands of homes with damaged.
Today's quake caused falling rocks to kill a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java's Lumajang district, said Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
He said dozens of homes were damaged across the district, and rescuers had retrieved two bodies from under the rubble in Kali Uling village. Two people were also confirmed killed in an area bordering Lumajang and Malang districts, while one person found dead under rubble in Malang.
Government officials and a police officer survey a house damaged by the earthquake in Malang, East Java. Photo / AP
Nuns walk past a damaged house at a flood-affected village in Ile Ape on Lembata Island, Indonesia. Photo / AP
Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.
Indonesia's search and rescue agency released videos and photos of damaged houses and buildings, including a ceiling at a hospital in Blitar, a city neighbouring Malang. Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500, while more than 92,000 were displaced, after striking Mamuju and Majene districts in West Sulawesi province.
