Indonesia’s strong quake damages dozens of houses

The quake was strongly felt in Jakarta (Shutterstock photo)

JAKARTA — Dozens of houses were destroyed after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s capital and Banten province on Tuesday, officials said here.

An official of the national disaster management agency told Xinhua by phone that a total of 13 houses were damaged in Serang district of the province and four others in West Java province.

In Lebak district of Banten province, as many as 116 houses were damaged after the quake, a senior official of the disaster management agency in the district named only Kaprawi said.

However, there has been no report of casualties so far and assessment of the impact of the quake is underway, according to the official of the national disaster management agency.

The quake struck at 13:34 p.m. local time (0634 GMT), with the epicenter at 81 kilometers southwest Lebak, Banten province and a depth of 10 km under the seabed.

The quake was strongly felt in Jakarta and the province, triggering panic.

Indonesia is prone to quakes, as it lies on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called “the Pacific Ring of Fire.”