Strong earthquake hits off Indonesia’s Java province
February 12th, 2010 - 2:16 am ICT by BNO News ( 2 comments )
JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) — A strong earthquake struck south of the Indonesian island of Java on Friday, seismologists said. There were conflicting reports on its magnitude, but no damage was immediately reported.
The earthquake was centered about 215 kilometers (135 miles) south of the city of Jember in East Java province. It also had a similar distance to the city of Denpasar, the capital city of Bali province. The earthquake struck around 1.43 a.m. local time at a depth of 53.9 kilometers (33.5 miles).
There were conflicting reports on the magnitude of the earthquake. The Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi Dan Geofisika (BMG), the country’s seismological center, reported a magnitude of 6.6. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), however, reported a magnitude of 5.7, which would make it a much smaller earthquake.
A seismologist at the USGS said the BMG may have had more data, and may have access to more earthquake sensors which led to a different magnitude. However, the USGS seismologist said they do not expect to change their magnitude.
Neither the BMG nor the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning following the earthquake. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
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Tags: badan meteorologi, bno, conflicting reports, earthquake rocks, earthquake sensors, east java, geofisika, indonesian island, java indonesia, jember, kilometers, magnitude, pacific tsunami warning, pacific tsunami warning center, seismologist, seismologists, tsunami warning center, united states geological, united states geological survey, usgs
February 12th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
It’s been suggested that the USGS routinely downgrades earthquake magnitudes these days. Reporting them at their actual level would indicate an historic increase in frequency and magnitude to which the USGS does not wish to admit. What is causing this increase? Good question.
September 9th, 2010 at 3:03 am
I wouldn’t say USGS downgrades them but they certainly aren’t reporting all of them. However I believe quakes on the other side of the world need to be reported to the USGS since the USGS cannot detect most of them.