On 11 October 2018, an earthquake struck off the coast of

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, with the epicentre located off the coast of

Situbondo Regency Situbondo Regency is a regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in east end of Java before ...

. The earthquake, which struck at dawn, killing four people in addition to destroying or damaging hundreds of houses, mostly on the small island of Sapudi.

Earthquake

The earthquake occurred at 18:44:55 UTC (01:44:55 WIB), with a magnitude of 6.0, at 9 km depth and

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

location of (

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

) or 6.3, 12 km depth and epicenter at (

BMKG Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency ( id, Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika, abbreviated BMKG) is an Indonesian non-departmental government agency for meteorology, climatology, and geophysics. History Its history began ...

). The epicenter was located underwater, around 60 km northeast of the town of

Situbondo Situbondo Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in ...

. Indonesian

Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency ( id, Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika, abbreviated BMKG) is an Indonesian non-departmental government agency for meteorology, climatology, and geophysics. History Its history began ...

reported 12 aftershocks, the strongest one occurring at 02:22 local time with a of 3.5. BMKG attributed the earthquake to an unmapped

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

, adding that the region historically saw relatively low seismicity and that the earthquake was not caused by the larger and more destructive earthquakes in

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

and

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

. According to

Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management The National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (Indonesian: ''Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana''; officially National Disaster Management Agency), abbreviated as BNPB, is the Indonesian board for natural disaster affairs. It was establishe ...

(BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the earthquake was felt in 22 regencies and cities in

province, including the provincial capital and Indonesia's second-largest city

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

. No tsunami warnings were issued, and none occurred. Attendees of the 2018

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

Summit in

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ) is the capital of Bali and the main gateway to the island. The city is also a hub for other cities in the Lesser Sunda Islands. With the rapid growth of the tourism industry in Bali ...

reported feeling the earthquake, but no damage occurred and the summit continued without significant disruption.

Casualties

The earthquake killed four people, and injured at least 26. As the earthquake struck around 2 am, many of the victims were asleep during the shaking and could not escape. Three of the deaths occurred in Prambanan village of

Sapudi Island Sapudi Islands are a group of 14 islands that lie between Madura Island and the Kangean islands of Indonesia. It is part of the Greater Sunda Islands and is located in the Java Sea. The Sapudi Islands are administered as three ''kabupaten'' (dist ...

and were caused by falling roof shrapnel, while the fourth fatality was in

Jember Jember Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency of East Java province, Indonesia. The population was 2,332,726 at the 2010 census and 2,536,729 at the 2020 Census. Its administrative capital is the urban area of Jember (city), Jember, which ...

, where a 47-year-old man died after he slipped and hit his head when running out of his house during the earthquake.

Aftermath

Nearly 500 houses were reported to be damaged by the day following the earthquake in Sapudi Island alone, with lesser damage in other regencies. Cleanup operations, assisted by soldiers from

Kodam V/Brawijaya Kodam V/Brawijaya (V ''Military Regional Command/Brawijaya'') ( id, Komando Dhaérah Militer V/Brawijaya) is a military region command of the Indonesian Army, as the 5th (Roman numeral "V") Kodam, which oversees the entire East Java Province. ...

, began soon after the earthquake. Social minister Agus Gumiwang visited Sapudi later in the day of the earthquake. Governor of

Soekarwo also visited the island, and promised that the provincial government would incur the costs of repairing damaged houses, with the provincial administration allocating Rp 23.7 billion (US$1.6 million) for the purpose. The central government also provided benefits of Rp 15 million (~USD 1,000) for the relatives of the fatalities, in addition to smaller benefits from the local governments.

References

External links

* {{Earthquakes in Indonesia Earthquakes in Java 2018 disasters in Indonesia 2018 earthquakes 2018 in Indonesia Earthquakes in Indonesia October 2018 events in Indonesia

Earthquake

Casualties

Aftermath

See also

References

External links