- Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency says shallow quake did not trigger tsunami warning.
- claims that while there were no reports of injuries, there was some building damage on the island of Siberut.
- Since early Monday morning, three earthquakes have struck the island, each one becoming more powerful.
JAKARTA: The country’s geophysics department reported that a 6.1-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, making it the third tremor to shake the region since early Monday.
Just before 10.30am, the shallow earthquake off the Mentawai islands, off the west coast of Sumatra, was detected by Indonesia’s meteorological and geophysics agency (BMKG), which reported that it did not cause a tsunami warning.
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A BMKG official claimed that the agency initially reported a magnitude of 6.4 but later corrected it to 6.1.
A 5.2-magnitude tremor occurred before dawn on Monday, followed by a 5.4-magnitude quake less than an hour later. Three earthquakes of increasing size then occurred in quick succession.
Residents of the Mentawai islands, the province capital of Padang, and the neighbouring hilly region of Bukitinggi all reported feeling the 6.1-magnitude earthquake strongly for many seconds, according to a statement from the disaster service.
On Siberut island, there was minimal structure damage, according to the agency, but no reports of injuries.
Separately, Novriadi, a Mentawai disaster administrator, told Reuters that people had been evacuated from numerous villages to higher ground and that a nearby church, school, and medical centre had suffered minor damage.
The disaster agency issued a call to calm down and issued a warning about the possibility of aftershocks.
In 2009, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake that hit Padang resulted in more than 1,100 fatalities, numerous injuries, and extensive property damage.
The so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where various tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust collide and frequently produce seismic activity, crosses Indonesia.