Magnitude-5.9 earthquake hits waters south of Indonesia
Jakarta, Dec 6 (EFE).- An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck the waters south of the most populated Indonesian island of Java on Tuesday, while the authorities have reported no damages or casualties yet.
The earthquake occurred at 14.07 local time, with the epicenter about 269 kilometers (167 miles) south of Kencong district and at a depth of 18km, according to the United States Geological Survey, which records seismic activity across the world.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area with high seismic and volcanic activity, where some 7,000 earthquakes are recorded every year, most of them of moderate intensity.
On Nov.21, an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 in West Java province left more than 300 dead and some 8,000 injured, in what was the deadliest earthquake in the country since 2018.
In September 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 caused a tsunami in Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, killing more than 4,300 people.
One of the most lethal catastrophes in Indonesia dates back to 2004, when a strong earthquake north of Sumatra Island caused a tsunami that caused more than 226,000 deaths in some dozen countries in the Indian Ocean. EFE
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