JAKARTA: Around 20 people were killed and at least 300 injured after an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 struck Indonesia's main island of Java on Monday. Several buildings were damaged and people in closed places rushed out to the streets for safety. The depth of the earthquake was measured to be 10 kilometres. According to a PTI report, the quake was strongly felt for almost 3 minutes. Moreover, high-rises in the city swayed and had to be evacuated. 


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"The quake felt so strong. My colleagues and I decided to get out of our office on the ninth floor with emergency stairs," said Vidi Primadhania, an employee in South Jakarta.


Although earthquakes are a frequent occurrence in the country, they rarely occur in Jakarta. 



 


Indonesia which is a group of islands often witnesses earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic disruptions due to its location. 


It is located on the arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.


In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.


A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.


(With PTI inputs)