Earthquake In Gunungsitoli, Residents: We Run Out, The Shaking Is Quite Strong

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The earthquake that occurred in southwest Nias, North Sumatra, on Tuesday morning caused panic in Gunungsitoli City.

"The earthquake was quite strong because my house is three floors, my family and I immediately went up to the top floor in case of an earthquake. getting stronger", said Yenni, a resident of Gunungsitoli.

A trader at Soliga Market, Gunungsitoli City, also said that the earthquake made traders and buyers rush out of the shop.

"The first knew there was an earthquake is a buyer, she said, why did your shop lights shake", said Wati, a trader at Soliga Market.

"We immediately ran out of the shop when we felt the shaking was strong enough", she added.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) stated that the earthquake centered on the sea was around 140 km southwest of Nias at a depth of 16 km has a magnitude of 6.4 and then updates it to 6.1.

Shallow earthquakes that occur due to tectonic activity on the Indian Ocean Plate, according to BMKG, vibrations were felt in West Nias at II to III on the Mercalli scale (MMI) and Gunung Sitoli (North Sumatra) on a scale I to II MMI.

The tremors were also felt in Aek Godang, Padang Sidimpuan, and Pakpak Bharat in North Sumatra; Pariaman, Padang Pariaman, and Padang in West Sumatra; as well as Aceh Singkil in Aceh on the MMI II scale.

On the I MMI scale the vibrations are not felt except in extraordinary circumstances by a few people; on the MMI scale II vibrations are felt by some people and cause light objects that are hung to shake, and at scale III MMI vibrations are felt realistically inside the house, it feels like a truck is passing by.

Head of BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center Bambang Setiyo Prayitno said that until now there had been no reports of damage caused by the earthquake which had no potential to cause a tsunami.