TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Strong earthquakes hit the region of East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday, July 23. A magnitude 5.7 quake jolted southwest of Larantuka, NTT on Saturday, July 23, at 14:35:46 Western Indonesia Time (WIB). The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) stated that the quake did not trigger a tsunami.
The center of the quake was at 7.57° South Latitude and 122.45° East Longitude. "100 kilometers northwest of Larantuka, NTT," said BMKG on its Twitter account.
Previously, in a nearby location, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurred at 13:09:17 WIB. The head of BMKG's Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Bambang Setiyo Prayitno, said that the quake at the Flores Sea was a tectonic one.
“The BMKG analysis data shows that the quake parameter was updated to magnitude 5.4,” Bambang wrote. The epicenter was at 7.65° South Latitude and 122.43° East Longitude, or at the sea 94 kilometers northwest of Larantuka, East Nusa Tenggara at the depth of 11 kilometers.
Based on the epicenter and the hypocenter, the quake was a shallow one caused by active fault activities in the Flores Sea.
The quake was felt at Ende, Maumere at II-III of the MMI scale. At the scale, the shaking could be felt by several people, and hanging things could also shake.
Bambang explained that until 13:50 WIB, the BMKG monitoring showed there were three aftershocks with the biggest magnitude of 4.5.
He asked the people to remain calm and not affected by baseless issues. He also called on the people to avoid cracked and broken buildings caused by the earthquake.
Maria Fransisca Lahur
