M 5.5 Earthquake In Banten Was Felt In Sukabumi, Pelabuhan Ratu Tourists Had Time To Run Away From The Beach

Illustration of Citepus Beach, Pelabuhan Ratu in Sukabumi. (Kemenparekraf.go.id)

BANTEN - The earthquake in Banten with a magnitude of 5.5 was felt in Sukabumi, West Java. The Banten earthquake centered in Bayah Regency occurred on Sunday, October 9, at around 17.02 WIB.

"The earthquake was quite strong when the incident happened, my family and I were cooking and preparing merchandise. Suddenly we saw the water in the aquarium swaying and the neighbors ran out of the house", said one resident of RT 03/01, Benteng Village, Warudoyong District. , Sukabumi City, Budi Sutisna in Sukabumi, Sunday 9 October

Similar to a resident of Palabuhan Ratu Subdistrict, Sukabumi Regency, Pipit Fitrianingsih admitted that he was on the coast when she suddenly saw a chandelier swaying loudly. The chair she was sitting on was shaking.

Without thinking, she and her husband and children immediately went out and away from the beach.

"I saw residents who were on the other side of the beach running out of their houses. But now the residents have returned to their respective homes", said Pipit when contacted by telephone after the earthquake.

Head of the Sukabumi City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Imran Wardhani, said that his party was still monitoring conditions on the ground.

He admitted that he did not know for sure the reports of damage caused by the M 5.5 Banten earthquake because data collection was still ongoing.

"We have deployed officers in each sub-district to monitor the condition of the community and have instructed them to immediately report any damage to residents' houses, public facilities or places of worship and others", he said.

Based on the Antara report, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded an earthquake with M 5.5 centered at 7.09 south latitude (LS), 106.08 east longitude (BT) about 26 km southwest, Bayah Regency, Banten with a depth of epicenter 12 km below sea level.