6.6-magnitude Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Java Island

According to the meteorology office, a violent 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Java island on Friday, causing some inhabitants in Jakarta to abandon their homes in fear, according to Reuters.

The quake struck 52 kilometres (32 miles) off the coast of Banten province at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to Indonesia's meteorology service (BMKG), although no tsunami warning was issued. The magnitude was initially given as 6.7, but it was later reduced to 6.6.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but BMKG advised residents to remain indoors after five aftershocks were reported, the biggest of which measured 5.7 on the Richter scale.

"It felt like a truck was passing through from inside a house," BMKG chief Dwikorita Karnawati said at a livestreamed news conference.

Witnesses told Reuters that significant earthquakes were felt in Jakarta for more than a minute.

Indonesia lies in the "Pacific Ring of Fire," a seismically active zone where different plates of the earth's crust collide, resulting in a slew of quakes and volcanoes.

"I was terrified since there was such a tremendous tremor," said Ani, a 38-year-old nanny who goes by one name.

"As soon as I felt it, I grabbed my employer's kid and dashed downstairs."

Ade, 34, was a resident on the 15th level of a Banten flat.

"I was in a Zoom conference when everyone started shouting 'Earthquake!'" Ade recounted, declining to offer her last name.

"The tremors were so severe and I was in shock that I couldn't go downstairs right away; I wanted to calm down."

On Sumatra island, the quake was felt in the provinces of West Java and Lampung.

The agency stated that it has received first reports of damage in Pandeglang, Banten, but did not provide any other information.

Banten Governor Wahidin Halim told Kompas TV that four residences had been destroyed, one Islamic school had collapsed, and a mosque had developed cracks.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake slammed the country's east last month, inflicting little damage but generating a tsunami warning and forcing many to abandon their homes.