Moderate quake hits West Lampung, prompts panic

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit West Lampung on Wednesday morning, causing local residents to flee their homes.

“It was quick and strong,” Edi Kardianto, an observer at the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, told Antara.

“There are possibilities of aftershocks to come.”

The agency recorded the quake as hitting at 11:02 a.m., with the epicenter located 64 kilometers southwest of the area, at a depth of 24 kilometer beneath the seabed.

The area has previously been hit by strong quakes, including one in 1994 that killed hundreds of people.

A series of quakes have rattled the western part of Sumatra Island in recent months, from Aceh at the northern tip, to Lampung at the southern end.

Aftershocks have also struck West Sumatra and surrounding areas over the past three weeks, after a magnitude 6.9 quake jolted the area in August.