JAKARTA, 17 July 2006 - Indonesia and Australia were advised of a possible local tsunami after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean south of the Indonesian island of Java.

The tsunami watch was issued at 3:36 p.m. local time after the quake hit about a quarter-hour earlier, according to an e- mailed statement from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency put the magnitude at 6.8, and said the rating may upgraded further, after giving a preliminary magnitude of 5.4.

"There is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the earthquake epicenter,'' the center said. "A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.''

A wave about 6 feet (2 meters) high damaged homes on Java, the Associated Press reported, citing an unidentified witness who was interviewed today on an Indonesian radio station.

Felt in Jakarta

Today's temblor and at least two aftershocks were felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The quake hit at a depth of 48 kilometers, about 358 kilometers south of Jakarta, the U.S. Geological Survey said in an e-mailed report. Australia's Christmas Island is about 228 kilometers southwest of the epicenter, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center estimated the travel time for any tsunami generated by the quake at less than an hour for the Indian Ocean coasts of Java, Sumatra, the Lesser Sunda islands, and Australia's Cocos islands. An Indonesian coastal resort, the Ocean Queen at Pelabuhan Ratu south of West Java, evacuated about 60 guests and 40 staff members, President-Director Nick Andrews said by telephone.

"We're full right now because of the school holidays,'' he said. "No one felt anything down there but we're taking precautions. We're in the process of getting everyone up the hill.'' The resort, comprising beachfront bamboo huts, is on the southern coast about four hours by car from Jakarta. It faces the Indian Ocean.

indahnesia.com lists all earthquakes that occur in Indonesia. For your convenience we display them in a list and a Google Map, loaded with our data. It is as accurate and recent as you can imagine as we check for updates every few minutes. All earthquakes are automatically added with date, location and magnitude. If an earthquake occurs in Indonesia, this is the place to check it out in the first place.

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