Strong earthquake hits Java Island in Indonesia

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake has struck Indonesia’s Java Island, disaster management authorities say.

The quake jolted the province of West Java on the island in the early hours of Saturday, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

The quake caused panic among residents of several areas throughout the province. People in several towns woke up from sleep and fled their houses when the quake lasting 10-15 seconds hit at 4:44 a.m. local times (2144 GMT Friday), Purwo Nugroho told reporters.

There were no immediate reports of significant damage, according to the official.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said in a statement that the earthquake’s epicenter was 134 kilometers southeast of Banjar, east of West Java.

The tremor did not have the potential to cause a tsunami, authorities said.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, and is prone to earthquakes due to its location on an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin known as the “Ring of Fire.”

A monster quake off the tip of the country’s Sumatra Island in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk