Yet again - 5.0-magnitude quake hits Southern Sumatra, Indonesia -- GFZ

JAKARTA: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 jolted Southern Sumatra, Indonesia at 1001 GMT on Saturday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

The epicentre with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 2.91 degrees south latitude and 100.02 degrees east longitude.

Indonesia has been jolted by earthquakes many times this year.

This follows, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 struck Sumba region in Indonesia on Oct 27, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said.

The quake was earlier estimated at magnitude 5.5 but was later revised to 5.3.

It was at a depth of 52 km (32.31 miles), GFZ said.

Also a 5.0-magnitude earthquake rocked off Indonesia's eastern province of West Papua on Sunday, the country's meteorology, climatology, and geophysics agency said on Sept 17.

The earthquake occurred at 4.17am Jakarta time Sunday (2117 GMT Saturday) with its epicentre located 84 km northeast of Tambrauw district with a depth of 10 km, reported Xinhua quoting the weather agency.

On Sept 11, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted Halmahera, Indonesia at 1251 GMT on Monday, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said.

The epicentre, with a depth of 160.1 km, was initially determined to be at 1.11 degrees north latitude and 127.52 degrees east longitude.

Only a day earlier on Sept 10, a shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey said, with no damage or casualties immediately reported.

The tremor hit at 9:43pm local time (1443 GMT) at a depth of 9.9 kilometres, according to the USGS.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi killed more than 2,200 people.

And in 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake struck Aceh province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.

In November last year, a 5.6-magnitude quake hit the South-East Asian nation's Java island, killing 602 people.

Most of the victims of that earthquake were killed when buildings collapsed or in landslides triggered by the tremor.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the country's Sumatra island in April, shaking homes of panicked residents but causing no casualties or damages. - Star