Another Strong Earthquake Rocks Mentawai

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A tectonic earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7, revised up from an earlier estimate of 5.7, struck off Mentawai today morning at 08:24:35 Western Indonesian Time (WIB), confirmed the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The quake had no tsunami potential.

“The modeling results show that the quake has no potential to trigger a tsunami,” said BMKG Head of Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Bambang Setiyo Prayitno, in his statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, May 5, 2021.

Its epicenter was located at 2.06 degrees south latitude and 99.59 degrees east longitude, or precisely on land one kilometer east of Tuapejat City, Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra. Its depth was at 41 kilometers.

Based on the epicenter and the hypocenter, it was considered a shallow quake caused by subduction activity. “The result of source mechanism analysis shows that it has a thrust fault mechanism,” Bambang added.

The tremor was strongly felt in Mentawai areas on a scale of IV Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI), Painan on III-IV MMI scale, Padang and Pariaman on III MMI scale. Weaker tremor was also felt in Bukittinggi, Padang Panjang, and Payakumbuh on II MMI scale.

To date, there was no report of damages caused by the quake, Bambang said. Until 08:45 WIB, BMKG did not detect aftershock. Bambang appealed to the public to stay calm and not be affected by baseless issues.

BMKG previously reported that in the early hours of Monday, May 3, at 00:46 WIB, an earthquake with 5.7 magnitudes jolted Mentawai.

Read: Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake Strikes West Halmahera

ANTARA