Yogyakarta Residents Run When M4.5 Earthquake Shakes Bantul

JAKARTA - An earthquake with a magnitude (M) 4.5 centered 16 kilometers east of Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), on Tuesday afternoon caused a number of residents in this province to panic and run out of buildings.

An employee of a company in Yogyakarta City, Novan Dwi Setiyanto, admitted that he felt the earthquake was quite strong even though it was only a few seconds.

"The earthquake felt strong, even though it was only a few seconds. The body was pushed like that," said Novan as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, January 27.

He said some of his colleagues had run out of the office when the earthquake occurred.

"Some of my friends ran out of the office. I didn't even get out," he continued.

The earthquake tremors were also felt by other residents, Seto Pangaribowo while at a cafe in Yogyakarta City.

According to him, the atmosphere at the cafe was noisy because the visitors were surprised. "When I was with my friends at the cafe, I was surprised that I almost ran away," he said.

Meanwhile, Tria, a resident of Seyegan, Sleman Regency, DIY, admitted that he felt the earthquake when he was in the bathroom so he didn't have time to run out of the house.

Even so, the number of neighbors fled their homes.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said a tectonic earthquake shook the Bantul area and its surroundings on Tuesday (27/1) at 13.15 WIB.

Based on the latest analysis results, the earthquake has a magnitude of 4.5.

Head of the Sleman Geofisika Station, Ardhianto Septiadhi, explained that the epicenter of the earthquake was located at the coordinates of 7.87 degrees South Latitude (LS) and 110.49 degrees East Longitude (BT) or precisely on land at a distance of 16 kilometers east of Bantul, DIY, with a depth of 11 kilometers.

He said the earthquake was a shallow earthquake due to the activity of the Opak Fault.

According to him, the earthquake was felt in Bantul, Gunungkidul, Kulon Progo, Sleman, Yogyakarta City, and Klaten, with an intensity scale of III MMI or the vibration felt like a truck loaded with passing.

Meanwhile, in Wonogiri, Purworejo, Trenggalek, Solo, Pacitan, and Magelang, he said, the earthquake was felt with an intensity scale of II MMI or felt by few people and light objects that were hung and swayed.

"Until now, there have been no reports of damage caused by the earthquake. The results of the modeling show that this earthquake has no potential for a tsunami," said Ardhianto.