Earthquakes in Indonesia

By Barrie | August 8th, 2007 | No Comments

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and as such, is vulnerable not only to devastating earthquakes, but also violent volcanic eruptions. Associated Press compiled a list of the recent earthquakes to strike the archipelago of Indonesia over the last few years.

A look at some earthquakes in Indonesia since 2000:

Aug. 8, 2007: A powerful undersea earthquake with a preliminary 7.5 magnitude strikes the capital of Jakarta, shaking tall buildings and sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets.

March 6, 2007: A magnitude-6.3 earthquake strikes Sumatra island, leaving at least 52 people dead and some 250 injured. Two hours later, a 6.1 aftershock rattled the region.

Jan. 21, 2007: A magnitude-7.3 earthquake in a regional capital on Sulawesi island in northeastern Indonesia leaves four people dead and four injured.

July 17, 2006: A magnitude-7.7 earthquake triggers a tsunami off of Java island’s southern coast, killing at least 600 people.

May 27, 2006: A magnitude-6.2 quake flattens homes and hotels near the ancient central city of Yogyakarta, killing more than 3,000 and injuring thousands.

March 28, 2005: A magnitude-8.7 quake strikes Nias and Simeulue islands off the western coast of Sumatra, killing about 900 people and flattening thousands of houses and bridges.

Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude-9 earthquake ruptures the sea floor off Sumatra island, triggering a tsunami that hits a dozen countries, including Indonesia, where at least 131,029 are killed and tens of thousands remain missing.

Nov. 26, 2004: A magnitude-6.4 earthquake rocks Indonesia’s West Papua, near Nabire, killing about 30 people and causing dozens of buildings and homes to collapse.

Nov. 12, 2004: A magnitude-6 quake strikes off the eastern coast of Alor island, about 1,000 miles east of Jakarta. At least 27 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are damaged.

Feb. 6-7, 2004: A magnitude-6.9 quake on Feb. 6 and a magnitude-7.1 aftershock the following day kill 34 and devastate Nabire in remote Papua province.

Nov. 2, 2002: A magnitude-7.7 earthquake rocks Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing two people and injuring at least 40.

June 4, 2000: A magnitude-7.9 quake hits Bengkulu province, killing at least 117 people and injuring about 1,900.

May 4, 2000: A magnitude-7.5 earthquake shakes Sulawesi province, killing at least 35 people and injuring at least 148.