Post On : October 19, 2016
RELATIVE PLATE MOTIONS
Indonesian archipelago is located in the convergence zone of four major tectonic plates:
Eurasian plate, Indian-Australian plate, Pacific plate and Philippine plate. Interaction of these plates affected the seism-tectonic of the Indonesian region.
The Indian-Australian plate moving northwards relative to Eurasian plate and the Pacific plate moving westward relative to both Indian-Australian and Eurasian plate.
Moreover, as a result of the India and Australia plates converging with and sub ducting beneath the Sunda plate at a rate of approximately 50 to 70 mm/yr.
DISCUSSION
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 Mw occurred at West Java Sea Region on October 19, 2016. The quake struck 97.4 miles (156km) from Kabupaten Indramayu, the closest city from the epicenter with a population of 477.519. The epicenter was on deep offshore with a depth of 614km, but there were no tsunami warning was issued because the energy released is not strong enough to trigger a tsunamis.
Earthquake occurred in area beneath Java as a result of intraplate faulting within the Australia slab. Deep (300-650 km) earthquakes occur beneath the Java Sea and the back-arc region to the north of Java (USGS). Position of the event and focal mechanism show that this earthquake is intraplate event.
Based on the shake map of Maipark Cat Model, the intensity of the quake was felt in Kabupaten Karawang III-II MMI; Kabupaten Indramayu II MMI. The intensity was very low and indicate light shaking.
Exposure and Loss
Preliminary result from Maipark Cat-model has estimated economic (number of houses) no losses from this event. Temporary report from media and local disaster management agency (BPBD), are still conducting rapid assessment. No casualties or damaged were reported. We expect no or minor under deductible insurance losses
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