"In theory, the minor earthquakes would reduce the likelihood of a large earthquake, as the seismic waves are released successively instead of being accumulated," BMKG's Banjarnegara Geophysics Station Head Setyoajie Prayoedhie stated in Purwokerto, Banyumas District, on Tuesday.
Minor earthquakes that rattled Central Java's regions in recent days were normal, as active seismic faults crossed the region, he noted.
"For instance, three active faults of Merapi, Merbabu, and Telemoyo that crosses Ambarawa caused the earthquake in Ambarawa and Temanggung districts, while the Ajibarang fault crossing Banyumas District caused an earthquake there," Prayoedhie remarked.
As both regions are located close to an active fault, the region would be prone to seismic energy release that causes earthquakes felt by its residents, the station head explained.
"We are not recording any other factors causing the earthquake outside the seismic wave release, as our observation otherwise showed a normal condition," he remarked.
The station head urged the public to stay calm and not trust information from unreliable sources regarding the earthquake event.
"Members of the public can contact us or the local Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) to clarify information about the earthquake," he stated.
Earlier, a 2.6-magnitude earthquake centred 14 km southwest of Temanggung rattled the region on Monday (Oct 25) at 9:29 p.m. local time (UTC +7). The quake in Temanggung was followed by a 2.3-magnitude earthquake, centred 5 km northwest of Purwokerto, that rattled Purwokerto at 11:23 p.m. local time.
Some 36 earthquakes were detected following the seismic activity on Monday night, with no earthquake reported on Tuesday, Prayoedhie stated.
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Translator: Sumarwoto, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Suharto
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