"Alhamdulillah, (Thank God), until 10 a.m. local time, we have not obtained any report of damage following the quake. May the situation remain safe and under control," BPBD Chief Tri Komara Sidhy stated.
However, the BPBD will continue to keep track of developments in the wake of the earthquake, he noted.
In the meantime, Teguh Wardoyo from the Technical Group of the Cilacap Office of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) stated that the earthquake of magnitude 5.9 that struck Cilacap District on Saturday at 8:51 a.m. local time did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.
The quake's epicenter was located at 9.86 degrees southern latitude and 108.57 degrees eastern longitude, or 222 kilometers southwest of Cilacap, Central Java, or 219 kilometers southeast of Pangandaran, West Java, he remarked.
He appealed to the public to stay calm and not be easily ruffled by rumors.
The latest update indicated that earthquake's magnitude was recorded at 5.6 on the Richter Scale, Rahmat Triyono, the Earthquake and Tsunami Center of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesman, stated.
The people living in Pangandaran and Tasikmalaya in West Java; Cilacap and Banyumas in Central Java; as well as Karangkates, Blitar, Tulungagung and Kediri in East Java felt the quake at Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) II-III, while those residing in Banjarnegara and Kebumen in Central Java; Bantul in Yogyakarta; and Solo in Central Java felt the quake at II MMI.
"Taking into account the location of the epicenter and the hypocenter depth, the shallow earthquake was caused by the Indo-Australia plate subducting beneath the Eurasia plate," he added.
Translator: Sumarwoto, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
