Earthquake causes scattered damage in Papua region

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua early Friday, causing scattered damage in a coastal town. No casualties were immediately reported.

At least two houses and the main bridge in the town of Nabire in Central Papua province collapsed, said Suharyanto, the chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. A government office, a church and an airport had minor damage.

“Overall, the situation is safe and under control,” Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, said in a video message.

People ran from houses or to higher ground when the quake occurred and telecommunication networks in Nabire and several other towns in the region were cut off, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.1 quake was centered 28 kilometers south of Nabire at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami as the earthquake was centered in land.

The same town was hit by deadly quakes in 2004. One in February killed 30 people and damaged hundreds of houses, and another in November that year caused 32 deaths.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 280 million people, sits on major seismic faults and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. MDT/AP