A shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Thursday, killing 4 individuals who did not escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the ocean.
The United States Geological Survey said the 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck residential areas in Jayapura, near Papua’s northern coast, and occurred at a depth of twenty-two kilometers (13 miles). Shallow quakes often cause more damage on the Earth’s surface.
“The residents were really panicked. I was driving a car and felt as if the car’s wheels were lifted,” said Tri Asih, a resident of Jayapura, the capital of Papua.
Officials said four people staying at the floating restaurant died when the quake caused it to collapse into the sea.
“The bodies of four victims have been recovered,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said at a press conference. “The victims were trapped under the rubble of the cafe and covered with a roof.”
Why did a shallow earthquake in Indonesia cause a lot destruction?
Why did a shallow earthquake in Indonesia cause a lot destruction?
Rescue divers searched the realm across the cafeteria for possible survivors.
Muhari said houses, buildings and medical facilities were also damaged. Some patients of town hospital were evacuated to its yard.
Since January, Papua has been shaken by a series of strong earthquakes. The Agency of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics said it had recorded 1,079 earthquakes in town of Jayapura and nearby areas since January 2, of which 132 were strong enough to be felt by residents.
Indonesia, an enormous archipelago and residential to greater than 270 million people, is continuously hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on account of its location within the Ring of Fire, an arc of seismic faults across the Pacific Basin.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake on November 21 killed a minimum of 331 people in West Java. It was the deadliest death toll in Indonesia because the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, which killed about 4,340 people.
In 2004, a particularly powerful earthquake within the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in several countries, mainly within the Indonesian province of Aceh.
