Indonesia apparently unscathed by a huge, deep quake

August 09, 2007|Robin McDowell, Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A powerful earthquake under the Java Sea rattled Indonesia's capital early today, violently shaking tall buildings and sending panicked residents into the streets.

There were no immediate reports of damage, and geophysicists said there was little risk of a tsunami.

The quake, which struck at 12:04 a.m., had a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 and was centered about 65 miles east of Jakarta at a depth in the earth of 180 miles, the US Geological Survey said.

Residents said buildings shook violently in the city of 9 million people, and water sloshed from swimming pools.

Many people were awakened by the quake. Some screamed "Allah akbar!" or "God is great!" as they ran outside.

El-Shinta radio reported that the quake could be felt from Sumatra island in the west to Bali to the east, but that there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake also was felt in parts of Malaysia, said the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

None of the instruments closest to the earthquake indicated that a tsunami was triggered, said Robert Cessaro, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. He added that there were no instruments close to the quake's epicenter.

"Because this earthquake was so far below the ocean bottom, it didn't trigger a tsunami or cause a lot of damage," said John Bellini, another USGS geophysicist.

The Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake that triggered the tsunami off the coast of Sumatra and killed more than 131,000 in Indonesia's Ache province was only 18 miles deep, according to the USGS.

"The earthquake center in 2004 was close enough that it actually ruptured the surface of the sea floor, which caused a tsunami," Bellini said.