A powerful earthquake rattled Indonesia's main island of Java today, killing at least 15 people and forcing thousands to evacuate, the country's disaster management agency said.
The 7.0 magnitude quake, as recorded by the US Geological Survey, shook buildings in the capital Jakarta and flattened homes in villages closer to the epicentre in West Java.
The health ministry said it was sending medical teams to Tasikmalaya near the epicentre of the quake in West Java.
The quake was felt as far away as Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, about 500km northeast of Tasikmalaya, and on the resort island of Bali, about 700km to the east.
At least 27 people were injured in Jakarta, a health ministry official said.
Hundreds of people sheltered in a military base in Tasikmalaya, fearing that the initial powerful quake would be followed by aftershocks, an official at the disaster management agency said.
Indonesia's main power, oil and gas, steel, and mining companies with operations in West and Central Java island closest to the quake's epicentre said they had not been affected and suffered no damage.
Local tsunami warnings were issued for coastal areas within several hundred kilometres of the epicentre soon after it struck, but were withdrawn about half an hour later.
Indonesia's seismology agency put the magnitude at 7.3 with the epicentre 142km southwest of Tasikmalaya. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a widespread tsunami.
Reuters