Magnitude 6.2 earthquake hits Indonesia, shaking buildings in Singapore

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit Pasaman Barat regency in Indonesia’s west Sumatra province on Friday, killing at least two residents and hurt 20 others.

The earthquake, which shook buildings in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, struck at 8:39am local time about 17 kilometres northeast of the regency, according to the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency. 

At least 15 aftershocks occurred after the quake, which damaged several houses and a number of office and other buildings, Dwikorita Karnawati, head of BMKG, as the agency is known, said in a virtual briefing. It occurred onshore at a depth of 10 kilometres and posed no tsunami threat.  

The agency is sending a team to further assess the situation, said Karnawati. 

Indonesia’s 17,000 islands are prone to earthquakes because the country straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines and volcanoes that causes frequent seismic upheavals.

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