Twin quakes shake Bandung, damaging homes and infrastructure

JAKARTA: Two earthquakes rocked Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday (May 1), affecting three families and causing damage to three houses, along with two mosques, three schools, and a health centre.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) spokeperson Abdul Muhairi, spokesperson urged residents to remain alert for aftershocks and advised them to avoid buildings showing signs of damage from the earlier quake.

“The Bandung disaster management agency is actively monitoring and assessing the affected areas in the aftermath of the earthquakes,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

The first quake, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, hit at 10.06am local time on land, about 20km southeast of Bandung, at a depth of four kilometres, according to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“Although the tremor lasted only two to three seconds, residents felt its impact,” said Abdul Muhairi.

A second earthquake, measuring 4.2 in magnitude, occurred at sea, around 93km southwest of Bandung at 10.35pm on the same day.

It struck at a depth of 24km and affected five villages in Pangalengan, along with one village each in Kertasar and Banjaran. – Bernama