A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shakes the main island of Indonesia, damaging many buildings

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A powerful earthquake shook parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Friday, damaging many buildings and sparking panic.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The 5.8-magnitude quake was centered 84 km southwest of Pampangliburu, a village in Bantul District, Yogyakarta Province, at a depth of 86 km, the USGS said. A 5.8-magnitude quake shook the main island of Indonesia. (supplied)

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency said the undersea quake destroyed at least 15 homes, two schools, a health facility and a government office.

Television reports showed that local residents in Yogyakarta Special Province and neighboring provinces in Central Java and East Java were in a state of panic with houses and buildings shaking for several seconds.

Some places ordered evacuations, which sent large numbers of people onto the streets.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks.

The agency measured an initial volume of 6.4.

The locals panicked as the houses and buildings swayed for several seconds. (supplied)

Variations in early measurements of earthquakes are common.

Yogyakarta is an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of centuries-old royal dynasties.

It is home to ninth-century Borobudur – nine stone tiers stacked like a wedding cake and decorated with hundreds of Buddha statues and relief panels – the towering Hindu temple complex of Prambanan, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Mount Merapi, the country’s most active volcano.

In 2006, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Yogyakarta killed more than 6,200 people and injured more than 130,000, but caused only minor damage to the two temples.

The country of more than 270 million people is frequently hit by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific basin known as the “Ring of Fire”.

In 2004, a very strong earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, mostly in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

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