Jakarta jolted by 6.5 magnitude quake, tremors felt across Indonesia’s Java and Sumatra

On Saturday morning, a powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck near Jakarta’s Thousand Islands, causing tremors to be felt in Jakarta and across parts of Java and Sumatra, Indonesia. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) initially reported the earthquake at a magnitude of 5.9, but revised it to 6.5 after further analysis.

The epicenter was located 69 kilometres northeast of Jakarta in the Java Sea, at a depth of 368 kilometres. BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Director Dr Wijayanto stated that the earthquake was deep and caused by intraslab activity, indicating no tsunami threat.

The strongest tremors were reported in Banten, West Java, and Tanggamus in southern Sumatra, where shaking was perceptible to people indoors and caused windows and doors to rattle in some areas. Additionally, the tremors were clearly felt in Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok and several other regions, while weaker shaking was observed as far away as Yogyakarta, Malang, and Padang.

However, BMKG reported no aftershocks as of 5am. KAI Commuter suspended Commuter Line services following the earthquake, conducting inspections of railway tracks, before resuming services at 5.26am and 5.45am respectively.