earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

occurred on September 2, 2009, at 14:55:01 local time in

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

7.0 earthquake killed at least 81 people, injured over 1,297, and displaced over 210,000 (including more than 140,000 in

Tasikmalaya Tasikmalaya (also known as Tasik) is a landlocked city in West Java, Indonesia. The city is sometimes dubbed ''kota santri'' (city of religious learners) or "the City of a Thousand Pesantrens" for its abundance of Islamic boarding schools. Locat ...

regency)."Korban Tewas Akibat Gempa Sudah 79 Orang"
Kompas newspaper, Sept 8, 2009 The quake was felt in the capital

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, although damage there was minimal, and it was Indonesia's deadliest earthquake since the

2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami An earthquake occurred on July 17, 2006, at along a subduction zone off the coast of West Java, west and central Java, a large and densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago. The shock had a Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude ...

Cause

The earthquake's

focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

lies close to the major fault plane where the Indo-Australian plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate. However, the

focal mechanism The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the Fault (geology)#Slip.2C heave.2C throw, deformation in the Hypocenter, source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a Fault (geology), fault-related event, it refers to the ori ...

s determined for this event shows reverse faulting at a high angle to the trend of the subduction zone and it has been suggested that the cause was deformation within the descending slab. Analysis of GPS data, tsunami run-ups and the effect of stress transfer compared to aftershock distribution supports a west- dipping reverse fault. Another earthquake in the same subduction zone occurred only 5 days later in the ocean south of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

. This newer quake (magnitude 6.2) is considered to be related to the West Java earthquake.

Damage

Buildings in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

and

, the town closest to the epicenter, were damaged, and hundreds of people were injured. An estimated 18,300 homes and offices were earlier thought to have been damaged. This figure later rose to 87,000. The quake was felt in

, Indonesia's capital; causing evacuation in many office buildings and hotels. Several office buildings along major thoroughfares in Central Jakarta suffered damage. At least 11 houses were covered by a landslide in

Cianjur Cianjur () is a town and district in the West Java province of Indonesia, and is the regency seat, seat of Cianjur Regency. The district of Cianjur is located along one of the main roads between Jakarta (120 km to the northwest) and Bandung ...

. Around 37 inhabitants, including 13 children, of Cikangkareng were affected by a landslide caused by the quake and are thought to have been buried beneath rubble. The area has become a breeding ground for voyeurs who are flocking to the area to take photographs of the destruction and victims. At least one hospital was destroyed by the quake.

Victims

Confirmed death tolls by area were issued by ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...

'' on 4 September.

References

External links

Death toll rises in Indonesia quake
– video from

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Indonesia
– video from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Photos
at the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:2009 West Java Earthquake Earthquakes in Java

West Java earthquake Earthquakes in Indonesia 2000s in Java September 2009 in Indonesia

Cause

Damage

Victims

See also

References

External links