Loud Boom in Bali's Buleleng Allegedly due to Exploding Meteor

TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Residents in Buleleng, Bali, and its surrounding areas were shocked by a loud boom on Sunday morning, January 24. The earthquake sensor of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded it as an anomaly.

The agency’s coordinator for earthquake and tsunami mitigation, Daryono, confirmed that many questioned the mysterious bang. Some were shocked that the loud boom rattled windows. Some also claimed they saw a meteor falling in the north or Bali sea.

“It goes viral on social media as many report loud rumbles, especially those in northern Bali,” said Daryono on Sunday, January 24.

One of three BMKG’s seismographs in Singaraja detected the tremor at 10:27 Central Indonesian Time (WITA) for about 20 seconds. “After being analyzed, the vibration was not caused by an earthquake,” he concluded.

Besides, the agency did not record any fault activity in the regions since 08:00 WITA. “Its strength is equal to a 1.1 magnitude quake,” he added. However, the BMKG could not find the source.

According to him, some people in Kintamani and Besakih saw a meteor passing to the southwest. Buleleng residents who were having a traditional ceremony also claimed to see an object passing in the sky. Fishermen at Buleleng coast shared a similar statement. “It likely exploded in the air, so people just got the shockwave,” Daryono said.

The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) Head Thomas Djamaluddin said his side did not have a meteor detector near Bali. If people witnessed a fireball passing followed by an explosion, he added, it was likely a space object.

“Perhaps it was a large meteor or an asteroid entering the atmosphere which caused the explosion due to the asteroid shockwave,” said Thomas on Sunday.

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ANWAR SISWADI (CONTRIBUTOR)