An Earthquake With A Magnitude Of 6.0 Occurred In Mentawai, West Sumatra, This Is BMKG Analysis

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JAKARTA - The magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra was a strong earthquake. This earthquake was centered on the sea with a distance of 112 km southwest of Tuapejat City, Mentawai Islands.

BMKG Head of Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Division, Daryono, said this earthquake was a shallow earthquake. The hypocenter is at a depth of 31 km, which means that the epicenter of this earthquake is inside the Indo-Australian Plate and not on the Eurasian Plate.

"Some areas that felt the shock of this earthquake were Padang, Painan, Sipora, Solok, Mentawai, Sipora, Padang Panjang, Bukittinggi, Pariaman, Kepahiang, Pasaman, Kerinci, Payakumbuh, and South Solok," said Daryono, Tuesday, November 17.

According to Daryono, this earthquake was not caused by plate collision activity because this earthquake originated in the Indo-Australian Plate.

Therefore, the earthquake that occurred this morning was called Daryono not an earthquake caused by plate collision activity in the megathrust zone. Earthquakes due to plate collisions usually have a thrust fault source.

Triggered by a transform fault, this earthquake has a source mechanism in the form of a transform fault which appears to be related to the source of the shear fault earthquake on the Indo-Australian Plate in the Indian Ocean, known as the Investigator Fracture Zone (IFZ).

The IFZ structure extends in the Indian Ocean in a relatively north-south direction and at the northern end of the IFZ is adjacent to the Sumatra Subduction Zone.

"This earthquake has no potential for a tsunami because its strength is still below 7.0. In addition, it is also because the source mechanism is a shear fault," added Daryono.

According to him, this kind of earthquake had occurred in the Indian Ocean west of Aceh in 2012. The devastating earthquake in the Indian Ocean west of Aceh on April 12, 2012, measuring 8.6 and 8.1 is another example of an earthquake related to the source of the earthquake. Investigator Fracture Zone ( IFZ). The Fracture Zone (IFZ) investigator is a potential earthquake source for the island of Sumatra.