5.0 M Earthquake in Megathrust Zone Jolts Mentawai This Morning

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 rocked Mentawai, West Sumatra, this morning at 05:25 local time, September 21, 2022. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the quake was at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Its epicenter was located at 1.14° South Latitude and 98.61° East Longitude, or precisely at sea, two kilometers west of West Siberut, Mentawai Islands.

Daryono, the agency’s acting head of the quake and tsunami center, explained that it was a tectonic quake that occurred on a thrust fault. “By taking into account the location of the epicenter and the hypocenter, it is a shallow quake triggered by plate subduction activity in the Mentawai-Siberut megathrust zone,” he said.

Based on the shakemap, the tremor was felt quite strongly in West Siberut and North Siberut at level IV of the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI). A weaker shaking was reported in Southwest Siberut at MMI level III and in Tuapejat City, Teluk Dalam City, Simpang Ampek City, Lubuk Basung City, and Pariaman City at MMI level II-III.

The BMKG also stated that the earthquake has no potential to cause a tsunami. As of 05:50 local time, no aftershock was recorded. Daryono thus called on the public to stay calm and avoid cracked or damaged buildings.

MARIA FRANSISCA LAHUR

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