Friday, October 16, 2009

Strong quake rattles Indonesian capital

strong earthquake rattled the Indonesian island of Java on Friday, sending panicked people into the streets of the capital city, Jakarta.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.1 -- lowering it from an earlier magnitude of 6.5.

The epicenter was located in the Sunda Strait -- the narrow body of water between Java and Sumatra islands, about 115 miles (185 km) southwest of Jakarta, according to the USGS.
It struck shortly before 5 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).

The quake prompted a mass evacuation in downtown Jakarta. There was no sign of any initial damage, CNN producer Andy Saputra said.

It is the latest in the series of quakes to have rattled Indonesia, including strong quakes on September 30 and October 1 near the island of Sumatra.

More than 1,000 people are believed to have died after the quake destroyed buildings in the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra.

Friday's quake did not last long, and was not nearly as powerful as the 7.0-magnitude quake that shook Jakarta on September 2, causing high-rise buildings to sway, according to Reuben Carder, a reporter with Dow Jones.

source cnn.com

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