Magnitude-6.1 quake causes scattered damage in Nabire, Papua region
Two houses and the main bridge collapsed; telecommunications cut in Nabire and surrounding towns; no immediate casualties reported, officials say
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled Indonesia's eastern Papua region early Friday, causing scattered damage in the coastal town of Nabire. No casualties were immediately reported.
Two houses and the main bridge in Nabire collapsed, and a government office, a church and an airport sustained minor damage. People ran from homes or moved to higher ground as telecommunications networks in Nabire and several nearby towns were cut off, officials said. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency cautioned that connectivity outages could hinder initial damage assessments.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 28 kilometers (17 miles) south of Nabire at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no tsunami danger since the event occurred inland.
"Overall, the situation is safe and under control," said Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, in a video message. The Indonesian official is known by a single name.
Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said telecommunications networks in Nabire and several other towns remained offline after the quake.
Nabire — the easternmost region's coastal hub in Central Papua — has faced deadly quakes before. In 2004, the town was hit by multiple earthquakes, including a February event that killed 30 people and damaged hundreds of houses, and a November quake that year that caused 32 deaths.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 280 million people, sits on major seismic faults and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.