A “VERY strong” magnitude 6.2 earthquake has hit the region south of the Indonesian resort of Bali, with witnesses saying the “walls of their house were shaking” and reports of strong tremors.
Bali earthquake: Indonesia struck by 6.2 quake – Ring of Fire shakes (Image: USGS)
One tourist responded on Twitter to the shock of experiencing the massive tremor saying: “We were right next to the ocean and all eyes turned to the water. Tsunamis are my biggest natural disaster fear.” One witness 54 miles north east from epicentre said their “house was shaking, the garden wall was waving”. This quake that has shaken the tourist island of Bali has since been downgraded to a magnitude 5.7 on the Richter Scale.
Another witness said: “I felt the quake for a few seconds, I felt it on the first floor, it felt medium strong.”
One Twitter user said: “We are on holiday in Bali.
“The quake shook so hard it woke my son up.”
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake usually causes damage to a moderate number of well-built structures in populated areas.
Earthquake-resistant structures should survive, with only a slight to moderate amount of damage.
But poorly designed structures will receive moderate to severe damage.
An earthquake of this size on the Richter scale will be felt in wider areas, up to hundreds of miles from the epicentre.
These earthquakes will be experienced as extremely strong to violent shaking at the actual epicentral area.
