Shallow quake damages over 100 houses, injures 20 residents

MAUMERE, Indonesia (AFP) — A shallow 4.9-magitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia overnight, damaging dozens of homes and injuring multiple people, an official said Thursday.

The jolt struck at a depth of 10.4 kilometers, some 104 kms east of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said.

Two villages on the small island of Adonara felt the biggest impact, with more than 100 houses damaged and at least 20 people injured, according to local official Ismail Daton Ban.

Indonesia and neighboring countries experience frequent earthquakes due to their location in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A 9.1-magnitude quake struck the westernmost Aceh province in 2004, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.

Shallow quakes tend to be more damaging, with seismic waves travelling a shorter distance through the ground and reaching the surface with more energy.