Powerful Earthquake Rocks Bali, 46 Injured 19 Buildings Damaged

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

JAKARTA, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's popular resort island of Bali, especially Nusa Dua, Thursday injuring 46 people, some seriously while 19 buildings were reported damaged.

Antara News Agency reported that those who were critically injured had been sent for treatment at the Umum Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar.

The agency also reported that 45 students and teachers of a vocational school in Denpasar suffered injuries in the tragedy at 11.16am but no fatalities were reported until press time.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency of Indonesia (BMKG) reported that the powerful quake was followed by at least 10 minor earthquakes that sent tremors in the island.

The earthquake's epicenter was located 143km South-West of Nusa Dua, Bali and reported to have struck 10km beneath but according to a BMKG report later the depth was 58km.

However, there was no potential of a tsunami.

Meanwhile, among buildings damaged were eight schools, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Bandar Denpasar, Bali Warriors Memorial Monument, Alam Puri Penatih Museum, Pos Pemadam Kebakaran Juanda, a hospital and six houses in Denpasar.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

A giant quake off the country on Dec 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.