Sunday May 26, 2013




Earthquake sways tall buildings in Indonesia's capital but causes no damage or tsunami

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A strong earthquake swayed tall buildings in Indonesia's capital Monday afternoon but caused no tsunami or apparent damage.

Office workers said the swaying was felt for about 10 seconds in high-rise buildings around the city of 9 million people. Even two-story homes shook strongly.

No damage or casualties have been reported. Earthquakes occur frequently across the sprawling archipelago nation, but it is uncommon for tremors to be felt in Jakarta.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 5.9-magnitude quake hit in the Indian Ocean 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of Sukabumi, a town in West Java province. It was about 171 kilometres (106 miles) from Jakarta and 67 kilometres (41 miles) beneath the ocean floor.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency had the magnitude at 6.1. Slight discrepancies are common in the initial measurements.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and seismic faults encircling the Pacific Basin.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.


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