Moderate earthquake jolts Jayapura

Nethy Dharma Somba ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Papua   |  Thu, 10/15/2009 9:26 PM  |  National

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 shook Jayapura and neighboring towns at about 9 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Jakarta time) on Thursday, causing panic among residents of Papua's capital.

“We were afraid of a repeat of what happened in Padang,” a resident of Kutaraja sub-district in Abepura district said, referring to the powerful quake that rattled West Sumatra on Sept. 30, killing more than 1,100 people.

She said goods fell from the shelves of a nearby mini market during the tremor. However, there were no reports of damage resulting from the quake.

The Jayapura Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency located the epicenter of the quake at 190 kilometers southwest of Jayapura at a depth of 91 kilometers. The agency did not issue a tsunami warning.

Papua is an area prone to earthquakes as it straddles three active tectonic plates.

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