New Delhi

Indonesia's Java island was hit with a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Saturday. The media reports say that the strong earthquake has damaged buildings in several cities. Country's disaster agency said that 6 people had been killed. The quake struck at the depth of 96 km. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre has put the intensity of the quake at 5.9

Advertisment

"The agency has recorded six dead and one person who sustained serious injuries," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Raditya Jati, adding that several villages in East Java had been evacuated.

The quake was felt in cities and towns across East Java, home to 40.7 million people, and nearby provinces, including the resort island of Bali, Indonesian media reported.

Reports of damage included parliamentary buildings, a school, a hospital and houses in several cities, while a large gorilla statue in an amusement park in the town of Batu lost its head.

Advertisment

Video shared by social media users showed people running out of a shopping mall in Malang city amid the strong tremor.

"I felt the earthquake twice, the first time for two seconds and then it stopped, but then it shook again for five seconds," Edo Afizal, a receptionist at a hotel in Blitar, told Reuters by phone.

Indonesia was struck last week by tropical cyclone Seroja, which triggered landslides and flash floods killing more than 160 people on islands in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Advertisment

(With agency inputs)