Jakarta: Indonesian authorities have cancelled a tsunami warning about two hours after a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the islands of Sumatra and the main island of Java.
Buildings in Jakarta swayed for nearly a minute during the evening quake. Hospitals in West Java's cities of Bogor, Ciamis and Cianjur – near the capital of Jakarta – evacuated patients, some attached to intravenous drips, to the hospital grounds, television footage showed.
People leave a shopping mall following an earthquake in Jakarta.Credit:AP
Authorities had urged people living near the coast to immediately find higher ground and thousands of locals had fled their homes in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake but, thankfully, the prospect of waves up to three metres high did not eventuate.
Indonesia was hit by two major tsunamis last year. The first centred on the city of Palu, on the island of Sulawei, and killed thousands of people while the second was in Banten Province, killing hundreds.
The US Geological Survey said Friday's magnitude-6.8 quake was centred 151 kilometres from Banten province off the island's south west coast. It hit at a depth of 42.8 kilometres.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency had earlier urged residents in Banten, on the west coast of Java, that they should "immediately evacuate to higher ground".
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but strong tremors were felt in Jakarta, the capital, prompting people to run out of office buildings.
People gather as they evacuate from a building after a strong earthquake.Credit:AP
Initially, Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquakes and tsunami centre in Indonesia, said his agency issued a tsunami warning in several areas in the provinces of Banten and Lampung.
He had warned South Pandeglang, Pulau Panaitan (Banten province) could expect waves of three metres, while the West Lampung area (Lampung) could also expect 3-metre high waves, he said.
"If within one hour there is no sign of [a] tsunami coming, that means [a] tsunami won't happen," Triyono said, speaking to local television station Metro TV.
People gather as they evacuate from a building.Credit:AP
"However, people are worried of [a possible] landslide in the sea.
"We're also worried [if the earthquake has any impact at] the Krakatoa volcano in the Sunda Strait.
Initially, Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, called on people living in coastal areas to move to higher ground but she also urged people not to panic.
People stand outside a shopping mall following an earthquake in Jakarta.Credit:AP
Radio and television reports said people felt a strong quake in Banten province and in Lampung province along the southern part of Sumatra island.
The National Disaster Agency spokesman, Agus Wibowo, said they were still gathering information of the damage and injuries.
The quake caused panic in the Pandeglang region of Banten province, where people ran to higher ground. Pandeglang, which encompasses Unjung Kulon National Park and popular beaches, is where a deadly tsunami struck in the dark without warning last December, killing at least 222 people as waves smashed into houses, hotels and other beachside buildings along the Sunda Strait.
Indonesia's Transport Ministry has now issued a statement that the capital's main airport, Soekarno-Hatta, was operating normally.
The sea ports of Merak and Bakaheuni are also operating normally and Jakarta's underground train system, the MRT, stopped operating for around 10 minutes
That tsunami followed an eruption and a possible landslide on Anaka Krakatau, one of the world's most famous volcanic islands, about 112 kilometres south west of Jakarta.
Last year, Indonesia was rattled by more than 11,500 earthquakes, almost double the annual average of the past decade, according to the nation's meteorological agency.
with Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
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