A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits the Indonesian region of Java, damaging buildings and causing panic among residents.

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A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck under the sea off the Indonesian island of Java, injuring at least 10 people, while a person suspected of having a heart attack during the quake died, the country’s disaster mitigation agency says.

Key points: Dozens of buildings damaged by quake, 67-year-old woman killed and two others injured as residents flee, officials warn of possible aftershocks, although tsunami risk is small

The agency’s spokesman, Abdul Mahari, told Reuters on Saturday that the earthquake caused minor damage to hundreds of homes, some offices, and health and educational facilities spread across the Yogyakarta region and Central Java province.

The Indonesian Geophysics Agency said the earthquake was felt at a depth of 25 km in several cities in the Yogyakarta region, as well as east and central Java, Indonesia’s most populous island.

No tsunami warning was issued.

Families were left waiting outside their homes after the Java earthquake (AP: Mahmud)

Television reports showed that local residents in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces 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.

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency warned of possible aftershocks.

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

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

Mount Merapi, the most active volcano in the country, is also in the province.

Indonesia is located on both sides of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire – a very active seismic zone where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and cause a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

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.

Wire/ABC

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